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GIRL A/IATORS’* 





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“what are you doing to this child?" DEMANDED ROY 
INDIGNANTLY. — Page' 38 . 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 
MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


BY 


MARGARET BURNHAM 

AUTHOR OF “THE GIRL AVIATORS AND THE PHANTOM AIRSHIP,” 
“THE GIRL AVIATORS ON GOLDEN WINGS,” “THE 
GIRL AVIATORS’ SKY CRUISE,” ETC. 


WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
CHARLES L. WRENN 



NEW YORK 

HURST & COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 




A* 


J% 0\ 


o€ 


Copyright, 1912, 

BY 

HURST & COMPANY 


4°r* 

Tus. I 


e>4-’/2. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Preparations and Plans ... 5 

II. Off on the Flight 19 

III. Little Wren and the Gipsies . . 31 

IV. The Approach of the Storm . . 49 

V. Peggy’s Thoughtfulness Saves the 

Farm 65 

VI. The Girl Aviators in Deadly Peril 77 

VII. A Stop for the Night .... 89 

VIII. Roy Makes an Enemy .... 101 

IX. Jimsy Falls Asleep 109 

X. Peggy’s Intuition 12 1 

XI. A Mean Revenge! 13 1 

XII. The Finding of the “Butterfly” 141 

XIII. Prisoners in the Hut . . . .149 

XIV. What’s To Be Done with The 

Wren? 159 

3 


CONTENTS 


4 


CHAPTER 

XV. 

A Rambunctious Ram 

. 


PAGE 

. . 171 

XVI. 

An Invitation to Race 

. 


• • 183 

XVII. 

The Twisted Spark Plug 


• • 197 

XVIII. 

In Search of a New Plug 


. 209 

XIX. 

The Trap .... 




XX. 

An Attack in the Air 



. 229 

XXI. 

Peggy's Splendid Race 



• • 239 

XXII. 

Peggy’s Generosity . 



• • 251 

XXIII. 

The Moonshiners and 

THE 

Aero- 


plane .... 



• • 259 

XXIV. 

Mr. Parker’s Story . 



. . 269 

XXV. 

The Wren Disappears 



. . 277 

XXVI. 

Captured by Gipsies . 



. 287 

XXVII. 

Deliverance 



. . 299 


The Girl Aviators’ Motor 
Butterfly 


CHAPTER I. 

PREPARATIONS AND PLANS. 

“It will be another ‘sky cruise/ longer and 
daintier and lovelier !” exclaimed Jess Bancroft, 
clapping her hands. “Peggy, you’re nothing if 
not original.” 

“Well, there are automobile tours and sailing 
trips, and driving parties ” 

“And railroad journeys and mountain 
tramps ” interrupted Jess, laughing. 

“Yes, and there are wonderful, long-distance 
migrations of birds, so why not a cross-country 
flight of motor butterflies?” 


5 


6 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“It would be splendid fun,” agreed Jess 
eagerly; “we could take the Golden Butterfly 
and the Red Dragon and ” 

“Don’t forget that Bess Marshall has a small 
monoplane, too, now. I guess she would go in 
with us.” 

“Not a doubt of it. Let’s go and find the boys 
and see what they say to it.” 

“No need to go after them, here they come 
now.” 

As the golden-haired Peggy spoke, two good- 
looking youths came round the corner of the old- 
fashioned house at Sandy Bay, Long Island, 
where the two young Prescotts made their home 
with their maiden aunt, Miss Sally Prescott. One 
of the lads was Roy Prescott, Peggy’s brother, 
and the other was Jimsy Bancroft. 

“Well, girls, what’s up now?” inquired Roy, 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


7 


as both girls sprang to their feet, their faces 
flushed and eyes shining. 

“Oh, nothing particular,” rejoined Peggy, with 
assumed indifference, “except that we’ve just 
solved the problem of what to do with the rest of 
the summer.” 

“And what’s that, — lie in hammocks and in- 
dulge in ice-cream sodas and chocolates?” asked 
Jimsy mockingly. 

“No, indeed, you impertinent person; the young 
lady of the twentieth century has left all that far 
behind her,” was Jess’s Parthian shot, “for proof 
I refer you to our adventures on the Great Al- 
kali.” 

“Hello! what’s this?” asked Roy, holding up a 
dainty cardboard box, and giving vent to a mis- 
chievous smile. 


“Chocolates!” cried Jimsy. 


8 


THE GIEL AVIATOKS’ 


“It was chocolates,” corrected Peggy reproach- 
fully. 

“And yet shall be,” declared Jimsy, producing 
from some mysterious place in a long auto coat 
another box, beribboned and decorated like the 
first. 

“Jimsy, you’re an angel!” cried both girls at 
once. 

“So I’ve been told before,” responded the im- 
perturbable Jimsy, “but I never really believed it 
till now.” 

Peggy rewarded him for the compliment by 
popping a chocolate into his mouth. 

Gravely munching it, Jimsy proceeded to in- 
terrogation. 

“And how did you solve the problem of what 
to do with the rest of the summer ?” he asked. 

For answer Peggy pointed to the sky, a deli- 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


9 


cate blue dome flecked with tiny cloudlets like 
cherub's wings. 

“By circling way up yonder in the cloudfields," 
she laughed. 

“But that's no novelty," objected Roy, “we’ve 
been up 5,000 feet already, and " 

“But we're talking about a tour through cloud- 
land," burst out Jess, unable to retain the secret 
any longer, “a sort of Cook's tour above the 
earth." 

“Wow!" gasped both boys. “There's nothing 
slow," added Roy, “in that or about you two. 
And, incidentally, just read this letter I got this 
morning, or rather I'll read it for you." 

So saying Roy produced from his coat a letter 
closely written in an old-fashioned handwriting. 
It was as follows: 


10 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“My Dear Niece and Nephew: No doubt 
you will be surprised to hear from your Uncle 
Jack. Possibly you will hardly recall him. This 
has, in a great measure, been his own fault as, 
since your poor father’s death, I have not paid 
the attention I should to my correspondence. 

“This letter, then, is to offer what compensa- 
tion lies in my power for my neglect. Having 
read in the papers of your wonderful flying feats 
in Nevada it struck me that you and your young 
friends might like to pay me a Tying trip,’ mak- 
ing the excursion via aeroplane. 

“We are to have some flying contests in 
Marysville during the latter part of the month, 
and you might care to participate in them. Of 
course I expect your Aunt Sallie to accompany 
you. Hoping sincerely to see you, I am 

“Your affectionate uncle, 
“James Parker. 

“Marysville, North Carolina.” 

As Roy concluded the reading the quartet of 
merry youngsters exchanged delighted glances. 
As if by magic here was an objective point des- 
cried for their projected motor flight. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


11 


“Well, that’s what I call modern magic,” de- 
clared Jimsy glowingly; “consider me as having 
accepted the invitation.” 

“Accepting likewise for me, of course,” said 
Jess, shaking her black locks and blinking round, 
expectant eyes. 

“Of course,” struck in Peggy affectionately, 
“the Girl Aviators cannot be parted.” 

Just at this moment came a whirring sound 
from high in the air above them. Looking up, 
they saw a dainty green monoplane, with wide- 
spread wings and whirring propeller, descending 
to earth. An instant later the machine had come 
to a halt on the lawn, alighting as lightly as wind- 
blown gossamer. In the machine was seated a 
pretty girl of about Peggy’s age, though rather 
stouter. In harmony with the color of the ma- 
chine she drove, the newly arrived girl aviator 


12 


THE GIRL AVIATORS* 


wore a green aviation costume, with a close-fit- 
ting motor bonnet. From the beruffled edge of 
this some golden strands of hair had escaped, and 
waved above two laughing blue eyes. 

“Hello, people !” she hailed, as the porch party 
hastily adjourned and ran to welcome her, “how's 
that for a novice only recently out of the Mineola 
School ?” 

“Bess Marshall, you’re a wonder !” cried 
Peggy, embracing her ; “the Dart is the prettiest 
little machine I’ve seen for a long time.” 

“Isn’t it a darling,” agreed Bess warmly, “but, 
my! how I had to beg and pray dad before he 
would buy it for me. He said that no daughter 
of his should ever go up in an aeroplane, much 
less drive one. It wasn’t till I got him down at 
Mineola and persuaded him to take a ride him- 
self that he consented to buying me my dear little 
Dart.” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


13 


She laid one daintily gloved hand on the steer- 
ing wheel of the little monoplane and patted it 
affectionately. 

"It’s pretty enough, but it wouldn't fly very 
far," commented Roy teasingly, “sort of aerial 
taxicab, I'd call it." 

“Is that so, Mr. Roy Prescott? Well, I'd like 
you to know that the Dart could fly just as far 
and as fast as the Red Dragon or the Golden 
Butterfly ” 

“Well, if you wanted to take a trip to North 
Carolina with us you’d have an opportunity to 
test that idea out," laughed Peggy. 

“A trip to North Carolina? What do you 
mean? Are you dreaming?" 

“No, not even day-dreaming." 

Just then Miss Prescott, her gentle face 
wreathed in smiles, appeared at the door. 


14 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


"Children! children !” she exclaimed, "what is 
all this? Adjourn your discussion for a while 
and come in and have tea.” 

While the happy group of young fliers are 
entering the pretty, old-fashioned house with its 
clustering roses and green-shuttered casements, 
let us relate a little more about the young per- 
sonages to whose enthusiastic talk the reader 
has just listened. 

Roy and Peggy Prescott were orphans living 
in the care of their aunt, Miss Prescott, the loca- 
tion of whose home on Long Island has already 
been described. At school Roy had imbibed the 
aerial fever, and after many vicissitudes had 
built a fine monoplane, the Golden Butterfly , with 
which he had won a big money prize, besides en- 
countering a series of extraordinary aerial ad- 
ventures. In these Peggy participated, and on 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


15 


more than one occasion was the means of ma- 
terially aiding her brother out of difficulties. All 
this part of their experiences was related in the 
first volume of this series, “The Girl Aviators 
and the Phantom Airship.” 

In the second volume, “The Girl Aviators on 
Golden Wings,” a combination of strange cir- 
cumstances took our friends out to the Great Al- 
kali of the Nevada desert. Here intrigues con- 
cerning a hidden gold mine provided much 
excitement and peril, and the girls proved that, 
after all, a fellow's sisters can be splendid com- 
panions in fun and hardship. An exciting race 
with an express train, and the adventure of the 
“Human Coyote,” provided stirring times in this 
story, which also related the queer antics of 
Professor Wandering William, an odd charac- 
ter indeed. Space does not permit to relate their 


16 


THE GIRL AVIATORS* 


previous adventures in more detail, but in “The 
Girl Aviators’ Sky Cruise” still other interesting 
and unusual experiences are described, — experi- 
ences that tested both themselves and their ma- 
chines in endurance flights. 

Of Roy and Peggy’s devoted friends, Jess and 
Jimsy Bancroft, it is enough to say that both 
were children of Mr. Bancroft, a wealthy banker, 
who had a palatial summer home near to the 
Prescotts’ less pretentious dwelling. Since we 
last met Jess and Jimsy their father had allowed 
them to purchase an aeroplane known as the 
White Flier . It was in this craft that Jimsy and 
Roy had flown over for mail when they made 
their entrance at the beginning of this chapter. 
Of the letter they found awaiting them we al- 
ready know. 

Jolly, good-natured Bess Marshall had taken 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


17 


up aviation as a lark. She was a typical speci- 
men of an American girl. Light-hearted, whole- 
some and devoted to all sorts of sports, tennis, 
swimming, golf, motoring and finally aviation 
had, in turn, claimed her attention. 

And now, having introduced our heroes and 
heroines of the sky to those who have not already 
met them, we will proceed to see how Miss Pres- 
cott receives the startling plans that her young 
charges are about to lay before her. 


» 



CHAPTER II. 


OFF ON the: flight. 

"But, my dear children, do you realize what 
such a trip means ?” 

The gentle-voiced Miss Prescott leaned back 
in her easy-chair and gazed at Peggy and Roy 
with an approach to consternation. 

"It means fun, adventure, and — oh, every- 
thing !” cried Peggy, clapping her hands. 

"You can't have the heart to refuse us,” sighed 
Jess. 

"If it were only the boys it might be different, 
but two young ladies ” 

"Three,” corrected Bess. 

"Three, then. For three young ladies, sup- 


19 


20 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


posedly of sound mind, to go flying across coun- 
try like, like ” 

“Butterflies,” struck in Jimsy. 

ff Wait a minute,” cried Jess, “there’d have to 
be four ladies ” 

“Of course; a chaperon,” breathed Peggy, with 
a mischievous glance. 

Miss Prescott dropped her knitting. 

“Peggy Prescott, you mean me?” 

“Of course; who else could go?” 

“My dear child, do you actually contemplate 
taking me flying through the air at my time of 
life?” 

“Why not? It isn’t as if you’d never been 
up,” urged Peggy. 

“You said you liked it, too,” struck in Jess. 

“Um — well, I may have said so,” admitted 
Miss Prescott, visibly weakening from the stand 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


21 


she had taken, and she went on : “I would like to 
see James again.” 

“And here is your opportunity ready to hand, 
as the advertisements say,” declared Bess, her 
blue eyes shining. 

“But how could I go ?” 

The question was an outward and visible sign 
of capitulation on Miss Prescott's part. 

“Why, I was thinking we could use that big 
biplane I was building for Mr. Bell's use out in 
Nevada,” spoke up Roy; “it will seat three, and 
is as steady as a church, thanks to that balanc- 
ing device Jimsy and I figured out.” 

“I'd fly my little Dart declared Bess. 

“And you and I would take the Golden Butter- 
fly” cried Peggy, crossing to Jessie and plac- 
ing her arm round the dark-haired girl's neck. 

“Jimsy can fly the Red Dragon, and that leaves 


22 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


Roy and auntie for the biplane/' she went on, 
bubbling over with enthusiasm as her plans ma- 
tured and took form. 

“Goodness gracious, an aerial circus!" cried 
Miss Prescott. “We would attract crowds, and 
that wouldn't be pleasant." 

“I was planning to make it a sort of picnic," 
declared Peggy, who appeared to have an an- 
swer for every objection that could be interposed 
to her project. 

“What, camp out every night? Well, you are 
a wonder," exclaimed Jimsy, “if there's one thing 
I love it's camping out." 

“How long would it take us to get to Marys- 
ville?" asked Bess. 

“I'll get the atlas," cried Peggy, “but if we 
have good weather not more than three or four 
days." 

“I hardly think it would take as long as that," 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


23 


declared Roy, as five eager heads were bent over 
the atlas. 

“But camping out!” exclaimed Miss Prescott, 
“think of colds and rheumatism, not to mention 
snakes and robbers.” 

“Tell you what,” cried Jimsy suddenly, “what’s 
the matter with Miss Prescott going along in an 
automobile? We can map out the route, arrange 
our stops and meet every evening at some small 
town where we won’t attract too much of a 
crowd.” 

“Jimsy, I always said you were a genius,” 
cried Peggy. 

“Behold the last objection swept away,” struck 
in Bess. 

“Surely you can’t refuse now?” urged Jess. 

“Please say yes,” came from them all. 

“But — but who would drive the car?” asked 


24 


THE GIEL AVIATOES’ 


Miss Prescott, in the voice of one who is think- 
ing up a feeble last objection. 

“Why, Jake Rickets, of course,” declared Roy, 
referring to the man who helped the boys in the 
machine shop in which the aeroplanes for the 
desert mines were manufactured. 

After this Miss Prescott could make but a 
poor stand against the united urgings of five im- 
petuous, enthusiastic young people. The air was 
filled with plans of all sorts. Jimsy was for go- 
ing at once, but it was finally decided to meet 
again and set a definite date for a start. In the 
meantime there were parents’ consents to be ob- 
tained, plans laid for the route to be followed, 
and various things purchased for the aerial trip. 

All this occupied some time, and it was not till 
a week later that the last difficulty in connection 
with the motor flight had been straightened out 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


25 


and the three aeroplanes stood ready, in Roy's 
hangar, for a tour that was to prove eventful in 
more ways than one. 

It was just after dawn on the day of the start 
that Roy and Jimsy for the last time went over 
every nut and bolt on the machines and declared 
everything in perfect readiness for the trip. 
Breakfast was a mere pretence at a meal ; excite- 
ment got the better of appetites that morning. 

Beside the winged machines sputtering and 
coughing as if impatient at the delay, was a large 
and comfortable red touring car. At the driver's 
wheel of this vehicle was seated a small, “under- 
done"-looking man, in a chauffeur's uniform of 
black leather. This was Jake Rickets. 

‘Well, Jake, we're all ready for a start," an- 
nounced Roy, at last. 

The small man, whose hair was fair, not to 


26 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


say pale, glanced at the glowing boy with an ex- 
pression of deep melancholy. 

“Yes, if something don’t happen,” he declared, 
in tones of deep pessimism. 

“Jake’s never happy unless he’s foreboding 
some disaster,” explained Roy to Bess, who hap- 
pened to be standing by drawing on her gloves. 

“It don’t never do to be too sure,” murmured 
the melancholy Jake, “’cos why? Well, you 
can’t most generally always tell.” 

“Everything ready?” cried Peggy at last, as 
Miss Prescott got into the car. 

“As ready as it ever will be,” merrily called 
back Bess, who was already seated in the little 
green Dart. 

The chorus of engine pantings and explosions 
was swelled by the roar of Roy’s big biplane and 
the rattling exhaust of Jimsy’s fierce-looking Red 
Dragon. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


27 


The Golden Butterfly , which was equipped with 
a silencing device, ran smoothly and silently as 
a sewing machine. Peggy sat at the wheel, while 
Jess reclined on the padded seat placed tandem- 
wise behind her. It made a wonderful picture, 
the big white biplane with its boy driver, the 
scarlet and silver machine of Jimsy Bancroft 
and the delicate green and gold color schemes of 
the other two flying machines. 

“The first stop will be Palenville,” announced 
Roy, “the biplane will be the pathfinder. ,, 

Despite the earliness of the hour and the ef- 
forts that had been made to keep the motor 
flight a secret, the information of the novel ex- 
periment had, in some way, leaked out. Quite a 
small crowd gave a loud cheer as Roy cried : 

“Go!” 

“We're off!” cried Peggy, athrill with excite- 


ment. 


28 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


Propellers flashed in the sunlight and the next 
instant the biplane, after a short run, soared 
aloft toward a sky of cloudless, clean-swept blue. 
In rapid succession the Dart , Golden Butterfly 
and Red Dragon followed. 

“Come on,” cried Bess to Jimsy, waving her 
hand challengingly. 

“Ladies first, even off the earth,” came back 
from Jimsy gallantly, as he skillfully “banked” 
his machine in an upward spiral. 

Then upward and outward soared the gayly 
colored sky racers, like a flock of wonderful 
birds. It was the greatest sight that the crowd 
left behind and below had ever witnessed, al- 
though one or two shook their heads and prophe- 
sied dire results from young ladies tampering 
with them blamed “sky buggies.” 

But not a thought of this entered the heads of 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


29 


the aerial adventurers. With sparkling eyes, and 
bounding pulses they flew steadily southward, 
from time to time glancing below at the touring 
car. Even though they were flying slowly it was 
plain that the big auto had hard work to keep up 
with them. The unique motor flight was on, and 
was about to develop experiences of which none 
of them at the moment dreamed. 



CHAPTER III. 


ElTTEE WREN AND THE GIPSIES. 

They flew on, keeping the motor car beneath 
them in constant sight till about noon. Then, 
from the tonneau of the machine, came the wav- 
ing of a red square of silk. This had been agreed 
upon as a signal to halt for a brief lunch. 

Shouting joyously, the young adventurers of 
the air began circling their machines about, drop- 
ping closer earthward with every sweep-. Be- 
neath them was a green meadow, bordered on 
one side by a country road and on the other by 
a small brook of clear water and a patch of dark 
woods. It was an ideal place to halt for a road- 
side lunch, and as one after the other the ma- 


31 


32 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


chines dropped to earth Miss Prescott was 
warmly congratulated on her choice of a halting 
place. 

The car was left in the road, and the melan- 
choly Jake Rickets set to work getting wood for 
a fire, for it was not to be thought of that Miss 
Prescott could go without her cup of tea. In the 
meantime the girls spread a cloth and set out 
their fare. There were dainty chicken sand- 
wiches with crisp lettuce leaves lurking between 
the thin white “wrappers,” cold meat and half a 
dozen other little picnic delicacies, which all the 
girls, despite their aerial craze, had not forgotten 
how to make. 

The boys set up a shout as, returning from at- 
tending to the aeroplanes, they beheld the invit- 
ing table. 

“This beats camping out by ourselves,” de- 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


33 


dared Roy, ‘ 'girls, we’re glad we brought you.” 

“Thank you for the compliment,” laughed Jess. 
“I suppose you mean that you are glad we 
brought all this.” 

She waved her hand at the “spread” dramati- 
cally. 

“Both,” rejoined Jimsy, throwing himself on 
the grass. By this time Jake’s kettle was bub- 
bling merrily, and soon the refreshing aroma of 
Miss Prescott’s own particular kind of tea was 
in the air. The boys preferred to try the water 
from the brook, despite Jake’s dire hints at ty- 
phoid and other germs holding a convention in 
it. It was sweet and cool, and the girls voted 
it as good as ice-cream soda. 

“At any rate as we can’t get any we might as 
well pretend it is,” declared Bess. 

So the meal passed merrily. After it had 


34 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


been concluded, amid gay chatter and fun, Peggy 
proposed an excursion to the woods for wild 
flowers which grew in great profusion on the op- 
posite side of the stream. Crossing it by a plank 
bridge, the young people plunged into the cool 
woods, dark and green, and carpeted with flow- 
ering shrubs and vines. 

For some time they gathered the blossoms, and 
were just about to return to the aeroplanes and 
resume their journey when Peggy uttered a sud- 
den sharp exclamation: 

“Hark! What’s that?” she cried. 

They all listened. Again came the sound that 
had arrested her attention; a sharp cry, as if 
some one was in pain or fright. 

Then came definite words: 

“Don’t ! Please, don’t hit me again !” 

“It’s a child!” exclaimed Jimsy. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


35 


"A girl!” cried Peggy, "some one is ill-treat- 
ing her.” 

"We’ll soon find out!” cried Roy hotly. It in- 
furiated the boy to think that a child was being 
subjected to ill-treatment, and the nature of the 
cries left no doubt that such was the case. 

"Stand back here, girls, while we see what’s 
up !” struck in Jimsy. 

"Indeed we’ll do no such thing!” rejoined the 
plucky Bess, bridling indignantly. 

"At any rate let us go in advance,” advised 
Roy; "we don’t know just what we may run up 
against.” 

This appeared reasonable even to Bess, and 
with the boys slightly in advance the little group 
pressed rapidly forward. After traveling about 
two hundred yards they found themselves in a 
small clearing where a most unusual sight pre- 


36 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


sented itself; a sight that brought a quick flash 
of indignation to the face of every one of them. 

Cowering under the blows of a tall, swarthy 
woman was a small girl, so fragile as to appear 
almost elfin. The woman wore the garb of a 
gipsy, and the presence of some squalid tents and 
tethered horses showed our young friends at 
once that it was a gipsy encampment upon which 
they had happened. 

The woman was so intent on belaboring the 
shrieking child that at first she did not see the 
newcomers. It was not till Roy stepped up to 
her, in fact, that she became aware of their pres- 
ence. 

“What are you doing to this child ?” demanded 
Roy indignantly. 

“That’s none of your business,” was the retort, 
as the woman for an instant released her hold on 
the child. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


37 


Instantly the little creature darted to the shel- 
tering arms of Peggy, sobbing piteously. 

"Oh ! Save me from her, she will kill me,” the 
child cried, in a broken voice. 

"There ! there !" soothed Peggy tenderly, 
"don't cry. We won't let her harm you any 
more." 

But like a fury the woman flew at the girls. 
Before she could lay hands on them, however, 
Roy and Jimsy had seized her arms and held 
them. At this the crone set up a hideous shriek 
and, as if it had been a signal, two swarthy men, 
with dark skins and big earrings in their ears, 
came running from behind the tents. 

"What's the trouble?" they cried, as they ran 
up, regarding the boys malevolently. 

"It's the Wren; they're trying to steal the 
Wren!" shrilled out the woman. 


38 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


At this the men rushed at the boys, one of 
them waving a thick cudgel he carried. 

“Let go of that woman,” they shouted furi- 
ously. 

Another instant and the boys would have been 
in a bad position, for both the gipsies were pow- 
erful fellows, and appeared determined to com- 
mit violence. But Roy, releasing his hold of the 
struggling gipsy woman, put up his fists in such 
a scientific manner that, for an instant, the at- 
tack paused. This gave Jimsy time to rush to his 
side. The instant she was released the woman 
darted to the side of the men. 

“Beat them ! Kill them !” she cried frantically. 

The men resumed their rush, and the next mo- 
ment the boys found themselves fighting to es- 
cape a furious assault. Neither of the lads was 
a weakling, and good habits and constant athletic 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


39 


exercise had placed them in the pink of condi- 
tion. 

But the two gipsies were no mean antagonists. 
Then, too, the one with the cudgel wielded it 
skillfully. Time and again Jimsy avoided a heavy 
blow which, if successful, must have injured him 
seriously. The girls, screaming, rushed off, car- 
rying “the Wren,” as the woman called her, with 
them. They dashed at top speed back to the spot 
where the aeroplanes had been left, and sum- 
moned Jake. 

“I knew something would happen,” declared 
that worthy, as he picked up a monkey wrench, 
the only weapon at hand, and started off for the 
woods. 

The girls followed him, Miss Prescott not hav- 
ing been vouchsafed anything but a most hurried 
explanation of what was going on. Just as Jake 


40 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


appeared on the scene Jimsy had received a ter- 
rific blow on the arm from one of the gipsy’s 
cudgels. The boy’s arm dropped as if paralyzed. 
With a howl of triumph the ruffian who had dealt 
him the blow rushed in on the injured lad. In 
another instant it would have looked bad indeed 
for Jimsy, but Roy, landing a hard blow against 
his assailant, hastened to his chum’s rescue. 

“You look after that fellow. I’ll take care of 
this one,” cried Jake, rushing into the melee, 
whirling his monkey wrench in a formidable 
manner. 

The girls, huddled in a group, gazed on in 
frank alarm. 

“Oh, they’ll be killed!” shrilled Jess. 

“Roy ! Roy ! Be careful !” cried Peggy. 

“Oh, I wish we could get a policeman,” cried 
Bess, clasping her hands nervously. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


41 


But as it happened a policeman, even if such 
a personage had been within a dozen miles, was 
not needed. A clever blow from Roy laid the 
cudgel wielder low, and the other man, not lik- 
ing the look of Jake's monkey wrench, capitu- 
lated by taking to his heels. The woman cowered 
back among the tents. 

"Come on, let's be going," cried Roy, as he 
saw that the battle was over. 

"Ouch! my wrist!" exclaimed Jimsy, wringing 
his left hand; "I believe that fellow has broken 
it." 

"Let's have a look," said Roy, as the two boys 
made their way to the huddled group of girls. 

"Nothing but a nasty whack," he pronounced, 
after an examination. "Well, girls, was it an 
exciting battle?" 

"Oh, it was terrible," cried Jess; "we thought 


you'd be badly beaten." 


42 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“But as it is we appear to be future 'white 
hopes/ not forgetting Jake,” smiled Roy, who 
was still panting from his exertions. 

"You were awfully brave, I think,” cried Bess 
admiringly, giving the three "heroes” a warm 
glance. 

"Well, there wasn’t anything to do but fight, 
unless we’d run away,” laughed Roy, "and now 
what about the cause of all the trouble?” 

He glanced at the little girl clinging to Peggy’s 
hand. The child was pitifully emaciated, with 
drawn features and large, dark eyes that gazed 
about her bewilderedly. Her clothing was a red 
gingham dress that fitted her like a sack. She 
was shoeless and stockingless. Her brown hair, 
unkempt and ragged, hung in elf locks about her 
sad little face. Certainly, as regarded size and 
general appearance, her name, "The Wren,” 
fitted her admirably. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


43 


“I don’t know what to do about her,” admitted 
Peggy; “suppose we ask Aunt Sally? I don’t 
want to let the gipsies have her again, and yet I 
don’t see how we can take her.” 

At the words the little creature burst into a 
frantic outbreak. 

“Don’t let those people have me back; don’t,” 
she begged ; “they’ll kill me if you do.” 

She clung passionately to Peggy’s dress. 
Tears came to the girl’s eyes at the pitiful mani- 
festation of fear. 

“There ! there, dear,” soothed Peggy, stroking 
the child’s head, “you sha’n’t go back if we can 
help it. Come with us for the time being, any- 
way.” 

“But we have no legal right to take her,” ob- 
jected Roy. 

“Don’t say another word,” snapped the usu- 


44 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


ally gentle Peggy, whose indignation had been 
fully aroused, “come on. Let’s get back to where 
we left Aunt Sally, then we can decide what 
to do.” 

“Incidentally, we’ll do well to get out of this 
vicinity before any more of those fellows come 
up. There must be several more somewhere close 
at hand,” exclaimed Jimsy. 

“Yes; and I’ll bet the others, the two who ran 
off, have gone to call them,” put in Roy; “that 
woman has disappeared, too.” 

No time was lost in getting back to the aero- 
planes, “The Wren,” as the gipsies called her, 
keeping tight hold of Peggy’s hand. The boys 
walked behind and, with Jake, formed a sort of 
rear guard to ward off any possible attack. But 
either the other members of the band were far 
off, or else they did not care to attempt an as- 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


45 


sault, for the party reached the aeroplanes with- 
out further incident or molestation. 

. Miss Prescott’s consternation may be imag- 
ined as she listened to the tale they had to tell. 
From time to time during its relation she glanced 
pityingly at the Wren. 

'Toor child!” she exclaimed, gazing at the 
wizened little creature’s bruised arms. They 
were black and blue from rough handling, and 
bore painful testimony to the life she had lived 
among the gipsies. 

“What is your name, dear?” she asked, mo- 
tioning to the child as Peggy finished her story. 

“The Wren, that’s what they always called 
me,” was the response, in a thin little wisp of a 
voice. 

“Have you no other name?” asked Miss Pres- 
cott kindly. 


46 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


The child shook her head. 

“I don’t know. Perhaps I did once. I wasn’t 
always with the tribe. I remember a home and 
my mother, but that was all so long ago that it 
isn’t clear.” 

“Then she’s not a gipsy,” declared Peggy em- 
phatically. 

“I’ll bet they kidnapped her some place,” ex- 
claimed Roy. 

“That doesn’t solve the problem of what to do 
with her,” struck in Jess. 

“We can’t send her back to those people,” de- 
clared Bess, with some warmth. 

“On the other hand, how are we to look after 
her?” said Jimsy. 

“It’s a problem that will have to solve itself,” 
said Miss Prescott, after a few moments of deep 
thinking. 


MOTOE BUTTEEFLY 


47 


“How is that?” asked Peggy. 

“Because she goes with us no matter what hap- 
pens. It may not be legal, but humanity comes 
above the law sometimes,” declared Miss Pres- 
cott, with emphasis. 

“Hurrah for Aunt Sally!” cried the boys, 
“she’s as militant as a newly blossomed suf- 
fragette. Cheer up, Wren, you’re all right 
now.” 

“Then I’m to stay with you?” questioned the 
child. 

“Of course,” came from Aunt Sally. 

The child buried her head on the kind-hearted 
lady’s lap and burst into a passion of weeping 
that fairly shook her frail frame. 

It was at this juncture that Jake set up a shout 
and pointed toward the woods. From them a 
group of men had burst, armed with sticks and 


48 


THE GIEL AVIATORS’ 


stones. They came rushing straight at the little 
group, uttering ferocious shouts. 

We’re in for it now,” exclaimed Roy; “girls, 
you had better get in the machine and drive a 
safe distance. Those fellows mean mischief.” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


49 


CHAPTER IV. 
thr approach op the; storm. 

It was apparent enough that mean mischief 
they did. Their dark eyes gleamed fiercely out 
of their swarthy faces. One or two wore a vivid 
red or blue handkerchief knotted about sinewy 
necks, this means of adornment only adding to 
their generally sinister look. 

“I knew we wouldn't get far without running 
into trouble," moaned Jake dejectedly. 

Roy turned on him sharply, almost angrily. 

“You get the ladies in that machine and drive 
off down the road a bit," he said; “I'll attend to 
this thing. Jimsy, come here." 

Jake hesitated a moment and then strode off 


to the auto. 


50 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Can't we stay and help?" asked Bess. 

“No; we can help Roy best by doing what he 
wants us to. He's got some plan in his head," 
rejoined Peggy firmly, “come along, Wren; Jess, 
help me with her, she’s terrified to death." 

This was no exaggeration. At sight of the 
gipsy band, the child so recently taken from their 
clutches shrank and cowered against her young 
protectress. 

“Don't let them take me — don't!" she kept 
wailing. 

“Never mind; don't be scared, Wren," Peggy 
comforted, “they won't get you." 

A flash of determined fire came into Peggy's 
eyes as she spoke. 

“Peg! You're magnificent," exclaimed Jess, 
as, headed by Miss Prescott, they hastened to- 
ward the car which Jake had already cranked. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


51 


The gipsies had paused for an instant. Evi- 
dently the sight of the aeroplanes bewildered and 
amazed them. Expecting to come on a camp of 
young folks they had suddenly encountered a 
group of machines which, to them, must have 
savored of the supernatural. But as the auto 
drove off they were due for an even greater sur- 
prise. 

Following a swift whisper from Roy both boys 
had jumped into the Red Dragon . In an instant 
came the sharp barking of the engine. The fly- 
ing machine dashed forward almost simultane- 
ously. Straight at the angry nomads Roy 
headed it. It was as if a war chariot of old was 
charging into a group of defiant barbarians. 

For a few moments the gipsies stood their 
ground. But as the machine rose from the 
ground, skimmed it, as it were, Roy thrust on 


52 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


full power. The machine darted over the spot 
where the gipsies had stood but an instant be- 
fore; but they had gone. Scattering with wild 
cries of fear, they could be seen running for 
their lives toward the wood. 

“I don’t think they’ll trouble us again in a 
hurry,” declared Roy grimly, as he brought the 
Red Dragon round in a circle and headed back 
for the rest. 

From the machine came a cheer, Miss Pres- 
cott’s voice ringing out as loudly as any. 

“The idea just came to me in a second,” ex- 
plained Roy modestly, in answer to the ladies’ 
congratulations and praise, “it worked, though, 
didn’t it?” 

“Like a charm,” they all agreed. 

“Hadn’t we better be getting on?” asked 
Jimsy, a minute later. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


53 


“Yes; there’s no knowing if those fellows 
won’t try a flank attack, although I think they’ve 
had a big enough scare thrown into them to last 
them quite a while with economy,” laughed Roy. 

“Who is going to take care of Wren?” asked 
Bess. 

“She’ll ride right in the car with me,” declared 
Miss Prescott positively, “you don’t think I’m 
going to risk her in one of those things of yours, 
do you?” 

They all laughed. As a matter of fact, there 
was not one of the party that was not more at 
home in the air than on a road. Then, too, Roy’s 
balancing device had about removed the last peril 
of air traveling. It was agreed to stop at Mead- 
ville, which the map showed was about thirty 
miles to the southeast, and purchase a dress and 
other necessities for their new ward. As to what 


54 


THE GIRL AVIATORS 3 


was to be done with her after that nobody had 
any very definite plans. And so the journey was 
resumed, with congratulations flying over the 
way in which they came out of what, for a time, 
looked like a really serious scrape. 

The weather had held fair till a short time 
after the start was made from the scene of the 
encounter with the gipsies. It was Peggy who 
first observed a change in the sky. 

. From the southwest billowy masses of slate- 
colored clouds came rolling on, obscuring the 
sunlit landscape beneath with an effect of lights 
turned down on a stage. Turning to Jess, who 
occupied the seat behind her, she remarked: 

“We’re going to have some bad kind of a 
storm, girlie.” 

Jess nodded. 

“Wonder how far we are from Meadville?” 


she asked. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


55 


“Quite a way yet. I’m afraid that we can’t 
make it before the storm breaks.” 

“Look, there’s Roy coming back, and Jimsy, 
too. I guess they want to talk about it.” 

This turned out to be the case. As Roy came 
swinging by he held a small megaphone to his 
mouth with one hand, while the other gripped the 
steering wheel tightly. 

“We’re in for a storm, girls, and a hummer, 
too, from the look of it.” 

“Better drop down,” counseled Jimsy. 

Jess nodded, and, as at this moment Bess, who 
had seen the boy’s maneuver, came by, the news 
was communicated to her. 

The next thing to do was to look about for a 
suitable place to land. The country over which 
they were passing was heavily wooded, and seem- 
ingly sparsely populated. Beneath them wound 


56 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


a road, along which, but at some distance be- 
hind, the touring car could be seen coming in a 
cloud of yellow dust. 

The wind began to grow puffy, and it required 
all the skill of the young aviators to keep their 
flock of motor-driven birds on even wings. Be- 
fore long, just as the distant, but fast approach- 
ing, cloud curtain began to be ripped and slashed 
by vivid scimitars of lightning, Roy espied, be- 
neath them, a field, at one end of which stood a 
prosperous-looking farmhouse, surrounded by 
buildings and hay stacks. 

It was an ideal spot in which to land, and as 
the road was near by they would have no diffi- 
culty in attracting the attention of Miss Pres- 
cott when she went by. In graceful volplanes 
the aeroplanes lit in the field like an alighting 
flight of carrier pigeons. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


57 


But hardly had they touched the ground when 
from the farmhouse a man came running in his 
shirtsleeves, his lower limbs being garbed in over- 
alls and knee-boots. On his chin was a goatee, 
and as he drew closer they saw that his face was 
thin and hatchet shaped and anything but agree- 
able. 

“You git out of thar! You git out of thar!” 
he kept shouting as he came along, stumbling 
over the stubble, for the field had been newly 
reaped. 

“Why, what’s the matter? We’re not hurting 
anything,” objected Roy; “surely you don’t mind 
our occupying the field for an hour or so till 
the storm blows over?” 

“I daon’t, hey? Wa’al^I do, by heck. I own 
all the way daown and all the way up frum this 
farm, and thet’s ther law.” 

7 v 


58 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“If we didn’t have these ladies with us we’d 
be only too glad to leave your field,” rejoined 
Jimsy, “but you can see for yourself a nasty 
storm is coming up.” 

“What bizness hes gals riding round in them 
sky-buggies,” stormed the farmer; “ef any dar- 
ter uv mine did it I’d lock her up on bread an’ 
water, by Jim Hill.” 

“I don’t doubt it in the least,” smiled Peggy 
sweetly. 

“Humph !” grunted the cantankerous old agri- 
culturist, not quite sure if he was being made fun 
of or if his resolution was being admired ; “all I 
got to say is thet ef you want to stay here you 
gotter pay.” 

“That can be arranged,” spoke Jimsy, with 
quiet sarcasm. 

“An’ pay wa’al, too,” resumed the farmer tena- 
ciously. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


59 


“How much do you think the lease of your 
field for an hour or so is worth ?" asked Roy. 

The farmer considered an instant, and then, 
with an avaricious look in his pin-point blue eyes, 
he looked up. 

“ 'Bout ten dollars," he said, at length. 

“We don't want to buy it, we just want to rent 
it for a very short time," struck in Bess, with 
her most innocent expression. 

“Wa'al, it's ten or git off!" snapped the 
farmer. 

“I'll pay you a fair price for it," spoke up Roy, 
“and not a cent more." 

“Then I'll drive you off with a shot-gun, by 
chowder." 

“Oh, no, you won't." 

“Won't, hey? What'll stop me?" 

“The law." 


60 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Ther law? Thet’s a good one.” 

“I think it is, a very good one,” struck in 
Jimsy, who now saw what Roy was driving at. 

“Humph! wa’al, if yer a’goin’ te talk law I’ll 
jes’ tell yer quick thet this is my land and thet 
you’re all a-trespassing.” 

“You are not very well up on aerial law, it 
seems,” replied Roy, in an absolutely unruffled 
tone. 

“Don’t know nuthin’ ’bout this air-ile law,” 
grumbled the fellow, but somewhat impressed by 
Roy’s calm, deliberate exterior. 

“Well, then, for your information I’ll tell you 
that under the laws of the country recently en- 
acted aviators are entitled to land in any safe 
landing place in times of emergency. If they do 
any damage they must pay for it. If not the 
owner of the land is not entitled to anything for 
the temporary use of his place.” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


61 


“Five dollars or nothing,” spoke Jimsy, “and 
if you try to put us off youTl get into serious 
trouble/’ 

“Wa’al, yer a-robbin’ me,” muttered the man, 
much impressed by Roy’s oratory, “gimme ther 
five.” 

It was quickly forthcoming. The old fellow 
took it without a word and shuffled off. As he 
did so there was a vivid flash of lightning and 
the growl of a big crash of thunder. While it 
was still resounding the auto came puffing up. 
Jake had put up the storm top and made it as 
snug and comfortable as a house. 

“Come on, boys and girls,” urged Roy, “let’s 
get the engines covered up and then beat it for 
the car. The rain will hit in in torrents in a few 
minutes.” 

Indeed they were still making fast the water- 


62 


THE GIRL AVIATORS 3 


proof covers constructed to throw over the mo- 
tors in just such emergencies when the big drops 
began to fall. 

There was a helter-skelter race for the car. In 
they all crowded, and none too soon. The air was 
almost as dark as at dusk, and there was a heavy 
sulphurous feeling in the atmosphere. But 
within the curtains of the car all was fun and 
merriment. The case of the old farmer was dis- 
cussed at length, and Jimsy convulsed them all 
by his clever imitation of the way the bargain 
was driven. 

He was in the midst of his description when a 
fearfully vivid flash lit up the interior of the 
car as brightly as day. As it did so The Wren 
uttered a sharp cry. 

“What is it, dear? Afraid of the lightning ?” 
asked Miss Prescott, while a thunder volley 
boomed and reverberated. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


63 


“No, no,” shivered the child, drawing closer 
to her, “but when I see a flash like that I some- 
times remember.” 

“Remember what?” asked Miss Prescott ten- 
derly. 

“Oh, I don't know,” wailed the child, “people 
and places. They come for a moment and then 
disappear again as quickly as they came.” 



CHAPTER V. 

piggy’s thoughtfulness saves the farm. 

Flash after flash, roar after roar, the lightning 
and thunder crashed and blazed as the full fury 
of the storm struck in. Miss Prescott, who was 
in deadly fear of lightning, covered her eyes with 
a thick veil and sank back in the cushions of the 
tonneau. 

But the rest of the party regarded the furious 
storm with interest. The rain was coming down 
in sheets, but not one drop penetrated the water- 
proof top of the big touring car. 

“It's grand, isn't it?" asked Peggy, after a 
particularly brilliant flash. 

“Um — ah, I don't just know," rejoined Jess, 
"it's rather too grand if anything. I " 


65 


66 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


Bang! 

There was a sharp report, like that of a large 
cannon. The air was filled with an eye-blister- 
ing blaze of blue fire. Stunned for an instant, 
and half blinded, not one of the young folks in 
the touring car uttered a word. 

The storm, too, appeared to be “holding its 
breath” after that terrific bombardment. 

“That struck close by,” declared Roy, the first 
to recover his speech. 

“Oh! oh!” moaned Miss Prescott, “then the 
next will hit us!” 

“Don't be a goose, Aunt Sally,” comforted 
Peggy; “don't you know that lightning never 
strikes twice in the same place?” 

Miss Prescott made no answer. In fact she 
had no opportunity to do so. 

From close at hand shouts were coming. Loud, 
frightened shouts. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


67 


“Fire! fire!” 

“Gracious! something’s on fire at that farm- 
house !” cried Peggy. 

“That’s what!” came in excited tones from 
Roy as he peered out through the rain. 

“Look at them running about,” chimed in 
Jimsy. 

“It’s from that haystack! See the smoke roll, 
up!” cried Bess. 

“The lightning must have struck it. Say, we’d 
better go and help,” exclaimed Roy anxiously. 

“I don’t see that the old man who was so mean 
to us deserves any help,” murmured Bess, rather 
angrily. 

“Why, Bess, for shame!” reproved Peggy. 
“Go on, boys, the rain’s letting up, maybe you 
can help them.” 


“All right, sis. Come on, Jimsy!” 


68 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


The boys dived out of the car and set off run- 
ning at top speed for the scene of the blaze, which 
was in a haystack back of the main barn of the 
farmhouse. Several farm hands, under the di- 
rection of the disagreeable old man, whose name 
was Zenas Hutchings, were running about with 
buckets of water, which were about as effective 
as trying to sweep the sea back with a broom, so 
far as gaining any headway against the flames 
was concerned. 

Had the rain continued it might have been pos- 
sible for the farm hands to quell the blaze with 
the assistance of the elements; but the storm 
had ceased almost as suddenly as it began, and 
only a few scattering drops were now falling. 
Off to the southwest the sky was blue once more. 

The farmer turned despairingly to the boys 
as they came running up. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


69 


“ ’Clare ter goodness if it ain’t them kids 
ag’in,” he exclaimed; “wa’al, you ain’t brought 
me nuthin’ but bad luck so far as I kin see. 
Hyars a hundred dollars’ worth of hay goin’ up 
in smoke an’ ” 

A farm hand came bustling up. His face was 
pale under the grime of soot that overlaid it. 

“Ef we don’t git ther fire under control purty 
soon,” he cried, “ther whole place ’ull go.” 

“What’s thet, Jed?” snapped old Hutchings 
anxiously. 

“I said that ther sparks is beginning ter fiy. 
If ther fire gits much hotter it’ll set suthin’ else 
ablaze.” 

“By heck! That's so!” cried old Hutchings, 
in an alarmed voice. 

He gazed about him perplexedly. 

“Isn’t there any fire apparatus near here?” 
asked Roy. 


70 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Yep; at Topman's Corners. But that's five 
miles off." 

“Have you telephoned them?" asked Jimsy, 
who had noticed that the Hutchings farm, like 
most up-to-date ones, was equipped with a tele- 
phone ; at least there were wires running into the 
place which appeared to be of that nature. 

“Ain't no use telephonin’," was the disconso- 
late rejoinder. 

“Why?" 

“Wire's busted. Reckon ther storm put it out 
of business. I guess it's all up with me now. I 
hoped ter pay off ther part of ther mortgage with 
ther hay and grain in thet barn yonder, an' 
now ” 

He broke off in a half sob. Cantankerous as 
the old man had shown himself to be, and grasp- 
ing withal, the boys could not help but feel sorry 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


71 


for the stricken old fellow. He looked pitifully 
bowed and old and wretched in the midst of his 
distracted farm hands, who were running about 
and shouting and not doing much of anything 
else. 

“Wa’al,” he said, at length, pulling himself to- 
gether with a visible effort, “thar’s no chance of 
gitting ther fire ingines, so it’ll hev ter go, I 
guess.” 

“Yes there is a chance of getting the engines, 
and a good one, too.” 

They all turned at the sound of a girlish voice, 
and there stood Peggy with Jess by her side. 
The two girls had stolen up unnoticed in the ex- 
citement. 

“Bravo, Peg!” exclaimed Roy heartily, glanc- 
ing approvingly at his sister, “what’s your idea?” 


“Fly over and get help.” 


72 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Fly over! Wa’al, I’ll be switched !” gasped 
old Hutchings. 

“I don’t see why not,” struck in Jimsy, “it’s 
five miles, you say. Well, we ought to make that 
in ten minutes or so, or even quicker.” 

“How fast can the engines get back?” asked 
Roy practically. 

“Wa’al, ther roads be good and Bob Shields 
hez a right smart team,” was the rejoinder. 
“They ought ter make it in half an hour.” 

“Good. Then if you can hold the flames in 
check for a short time longer we can save your 
place yet.” 

Beckoning to Jimsy, the boy darted oif for the 
Red Dragon. This machine he selected because, 
with the exception of the Dart, it was the fastest 
and lightest of the aeroplanes they had with 
them. Farmer Hutchings had hardly closed his 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


73 


mouth from its gaping expression of surprise 
when a whirr of the motor announced that the 
Red Dragon was off. Its lithe body shot into the 
air with tremendous impetus. 

“Ther Corners is off thar to ther westward,” 
shouted up the farmer, “you can’t miss it. It’s 
got a red brick church with a high tower on it 
right in the middle of a clump of elms.” 

Speeding above fields and woodland the red 
messenger of pending disaster raced through the 
air. Five minutes after taking flight Jimsy 
espied a high red tower. Eight and one half 
minutes after the Dragon had shot aloft it flut- 
tered to earth on the village street of Topman’s 
Corners, amid an amazed group of citizens who 
had seen it approaching. 

It was the first aeroplane ever seen in the re- 
mote Pennsylvanian hamlet, and it created com- 


74 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


mensurate excitement. But the boys had no time 
to answer the scores of questions, foolish and 
otherwise, that were volleyed at them from all 
sides. 

“There’s a fire!” exclaimed Jimsy breathlessly, 
“a fire at Hutchings’s farm. How soon can you 
get the engines there?” 

A stalwart-looking young fellow stepped up. 

“I’m chief of the department,” he said, “we’re 
the ‘Valiants.’ I’ll be there in twenty-five min- 
utes if I have to kill the horses. It’s downhill 
most of the way, anyhow. Jim, you run off and 
ring ther bell.” 

A second later the fire bell was loudly clang- 
ing and several of the crowd melted away to don 
their helmets and coats. In less time than the 
boys would have thought it possible a good-look- 
ing engine came rumbling out of the fire house 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


75 


half a block down the street. Behind it came a 
hook and ladder truck. 

Fine horses were attached to each, and from 
the way they leaped off the boys saw that the 
“Chief” meant to make good his promise. 

“Race you to ther fire!” shouted the latter 
functionary, as, in a storm of cheers, his appar- 
atus swept out of sight down the elm-bordered 
street. 

“You're on,” laughed Roy, whisking aloft 
while the Topman’s Cornerites were still wonder- 
ing within themselves if they were waking or 
dreaming. 




CHAPTER VI. 


the girt aviators in deadly perii,. 

The fire was out. A smoldering, blackened 
hillock was all that remained of the stack ignited 
by the lightning bolt ; but the others and the main 
buildings of the farm had been saved. 

Such work was a new task for aeroplanes — 
but there is no doubt that, had it not been for 
Peggy’s suggestion, the Hutchings farm would 
have been burned to the ground. As it was, when 
the firemen, their horses in a lather, arrived at 
the scene, the farm hands, who had been fighting 
the flames, were almost exhausted. 

Had they possessed the time, the young folks 
would have been glad to tell the curious firemen 


77 


78 


THE GIRL AVIATORS 5 


something about their aeroplanes. But it was 
well into the afternoon, and if they intended to 
keep up their itinerary it was necessary for them 
to be hurrying on. A short time after the blaze 
had been declared “out” the aeroplanes once more 
soared aloft, and the auto chugged off in the di- 
rection of Meadville. 

The afternoon sun shone sparklingly on the 
trees and fields below, all freshened by the down- 
pour of the early afternoon. The spirits of all 
rose as did their machines as they raced along. 
Before leaving the Hutchings farm the old man 
had been so moved to generosity by the novel 
manner in which his farm had been saved from 
destruction that he had offered to give back $2.50 
of the $5 he had demanded for the rent of his 
field. Of course they had not taken it, but the 
evident anguish with which the offer was made 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


79 


afforded much amusement to the young aviators 
as they soared along. 

In Peggy’s machine the talk between herself 
and Jess was of the strange finding of The Wren, 
and of the child’s curious ways. Both girls re- 
called her odd conduct during the storm and what 
she had said about the peculiar influence of light- 
ning on her memory. 

“Depend on it, Jess,” declared Peggy, with 
conviction, “that child is no more a gipsy than 
you or I.” 

“Do you think she was stolen from some- 
where?” asked Jess, readily guessing the drift of 
her friend’s thoughts. 

“I don’t know, but I’m sure they had no legal 
right to her,” was the reply. 

“Oh, Peg ! Suppose she should turn out to be 
a missing heiress!” Jess, who loved a romance, 
clasped her gauntleted hands. 


80 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


Peggy laughed. 

“Missing heiresses are not so common as you 
might suppose,” she said; “I never met any one 
who had encountered any, except in story books.” 

“Still, it would be great if we had really found 
a long missing child, or — or something like that,” 
concluded Jess, rather lamely. 

“I can't see how we would be benefiting the 
child or its parents, either, since we have no way 
of knowing who the latter are,” rejoined the 
practical Peggy, which remark closed the discus- 
sion for the time being. 

It was not more than half an hour later when 
Jess uttered a sharp cry of alarm. From the 
forward part of the aeroplane a wisp of smoke 
had suddenly curled upward. Like a blue serpent 
of vapor it dissolved in the air almost so quickly 
as to make Jess believe, for an instant, that she 
had been the victim of an hallucination. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


81 


But that it was no figment of the imagination 
was evidenced a few moments later by Peggy 
herself. Aroused by Jess’s cry, she had made an 
inspection of the machine, with alarming results. 
What these were speedily became manifest. 

“Jess! The machine is on fire!” she cried 
afrightedly. 

As if in verification of her words there came 
a puff of flame and a strong reek of gasoline. It 
was just then that both girls recalled that the 
Golden Butterfly carried twenty-five gallons of 
gasoline, without counting the reserve supply. 

Fire on an aeroplane is even more terrifying 
than a similar casualty on any other type of ma- 
chine. Hardly had Peggy’s words confirming 
the alarming news left her lips when there came 
a cry from Jess. 

The girl had just glanced at the barograph. 


82 


THE GIRL AVIATORS 5 


It showed that they were then 1,500 feet above 
;the surface of the earth. The girl had hardly 
made this discovery before, from beneath the 
“bow” of the monoplane, came a wave of flame; 
driven from the steering wheel by the heat, 
Peggy drew back toward her companion. Her 
face was ashen white. 

Left to itself the aeroplane “yawed” wildly, 
like a craft without a rudder. Then suddenly 
it dashed down toward the earth, smoke and 
flames leaping from its front part. 

Both girls uttered a cry of terror as the air 
craft fell like a stone hurled into space. Faster 
and faster it dashed earthward without a con- 
trolling hand to guide it. It was at this instant 
that Roy and Jimsy became aware of what had 
happened. 

Instantly they swung their machine around in 



BOTH GIRLS UTTERED A CRY OF TERROR AS THE AIR CRAFT FELL 
LIKE A STONE HURLED INTO SPACE. 

















































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MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


83 • 


time to see the Golden Butterfly make her sick- 
ening downward swoop. Both lads uttered a 
cry of fear as they saw what appeared to mean 
certain death for the two Girl Aviators. 

Roy’s fingers scarcely grasped the wheel of his 
machine as he saw the downward drop. Jimsy 
was as badly affected. But almost before they 
could grasp a full realization of the accident the 
Golden Butterfly was almost on the ground. It 
was in a hilly bit of country, interspersed by 
small lakes or ponds. 

A freak of the wind caught the blazing aero- 
plane as it fell and drove it right over one of 
these small bodies of water. 

The Golden Butterfly appeared to hesitate for 
one instant and then plunged right into the wa- 
ter, flinging the two girls out. Both were ex- 
pert swimmers, but the shock of the sudden de- 


84 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


scent, and the abrupt manner in which they had 
been flung into the water had badly unstrung 
their nerves. 

Jess struck out valiantly, but the next instant 
uttered a cry : 

‘Teg! Peg! Pm sinking!” 

Peggy pluckily struck out for her chum and 
succeeded in seizing her. Then with brisk 
strokes she made for the shore, luckily only a 
few yards distant. It was at this juncture that 
the boys’ machines came to earth almost simul- 
taneously. High above Bess’s Dart hovered, 
and presently it, too, began to drop downward. 
Apparently the accident had not been seen from 
the auto, at any rate the car was not turned back 
toward the scene of the accident. 

As the boys’ aeroplanes struck the earth not 
far from the bank of the pond toward which 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


85 


Peggy was at that moment valiantly struggling, 
the two young aviators leaped out and set out at 
a run to the rescue. They reached the bank in 
the nick of time to pull out the two drenched, 
half-exhausted girls. 

“At any rate the fall was a lucky one in a 
way!” gasped the optimistic Peggy, as soon as 
she caught her breath, “it put out the fire.” 

And so it had. Not only that, but the aero- 
plane, buoyed up by its broad wings, was still 
floating. On board the Red Dragon was a long 
bit of rope. Jimsy produced this and then swam 
out to the drifting Butterfly. The rope was 
made fast to it and the craft dragged ashore. 
But when they got it to the bank the problem 
arose as to how they were going to drag it up 
the steep acclivity. 

Again and again they tried; Bess, who had by 


86 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


this time alighted, aiding them. But it was all 
to no purpose. Even their united strength failed 
to move the heavy apparatus. 

“I've got an idea!” shouted Jimsy suddenly, 
during a pause in their laborious operations. 

“Good ! Don't let it get away, I beg of you !” 
implored Peggy. 

“Oh, Peg! Don't tease, besides, you don't 
look a bit cute with your hair all wet and drag- 
gled, and as for your dress — goodness !" 

This came from Jess, herself sadly “rumpled” 
and in addition wet through. Before Peggy 
could reply to her chum's half rallying remark 
Jimsy, unabashed, continued: 

“We'll hitch this rope to the Red Dragon and 
then start her up for all she's worth.” 

“Jimsy, you're a genius !” 

“A modern marvel!” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


87 


“A solid promontory of pure gray matter!” 

In turn the remarks came from each of the 
party. But Jimsy, bothering not at all at the 
laughing encomiums, proceeded to secure the rope 
to the Red Dragon. This done, he started up the 
engine and clambered into his seat. 

“All ashore that’s going ashore!” he yelled, 
in mocking imitation of the stewards of an ocean 
liner. 

There wasn’t an instant’s hesitation as he 
threw the load upon the engine. Then the rope 
tautened. It grew tight as a fiddle string. 

“Goodness ! It’ll snap and the Dragon will be 
broken!” cried Jess, in alarm. 

But no such thing happened. Instead, as the 
Dragon's powerful propeller blades “bit” into the 
air, the Golden Butterfly obediently mounted the 
steep bank of the pond. Five minutes later the 


88 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


pretty craft stood on dry land and the party of 
young aviators were eagerly making an investi- 
gation of the damage done. 

The cause of the fire was soon found. A tiny 
leak in the tank had allowed some gasoline to 
drip into the bottom of the chassis, or passenger 
carrier. Collecting here, it was plain that a back 
fire from the carburetor had ignited it. 

Neither of the girls could repress a shudder as 
they thought of what might have occurred had 
they been higher in the air and no convenient 
pond handy for them to drop into. In such a 
case the flames might have reached the gasoline 
tank before they could be extinguished and in- 
evitably a fearful explosion would have followed. 

“I think you are the two luckiest girls in the 
world,” declared Roy solemnly, as he concluded 
his examination and announced his conclusions. 
Naturally they fully agreed with him. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


89 


CHAPTER VII. 

A STOP FOR THF NIGHT. 

It was some two hours later that Meadville 
received the greatest excitement of its career. 
People rushed out of stores and houses as the 
“flock” of aeroplanes came into sight. 

As they gazed down the young aviators felt a 
momentary regret that they had chosen a town in 
which to pass the first night of their motor 
flight. It appeared that they would get into 
difficulties when they attempted to make a 
landing. 

But almost simultaneously they spied a public 
park, which appeared to offer a favorable land- 
ing place. As soon as their intention of descend- 


90 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


in g there became manifest, however, the crowd 
made a headlong rush for the spot. 

It was too late to seek some other location to 
alight even had there been one available. Trust- 
ing to luck that the eager spectators would get 
out of their way the four aeroplanes began their 
spiraling descent. 

Roy was first in his big biplane. As the pon- 
derous, white machine ranged down close to the 
park the crowd became well-nigh uncontrollable. 
They swarmed beneath the big machine, despite 
Roy’s shouts of warning. 

Skillfully as the boy manipulated the air craft 
he could not check its descent once begun. 

“Out of the way! I don’t want to hurt you!” 
he shouted, as he dashed down. 

But the crowd, sheeplike in their stupidity, re- 
fused to budge. Into the midst of them Roy, 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


91 


perforce, was compelled to drive. Once the 
throng perceived his intention, however, they 
scattered wildly. That is, all sought positions 
of safety but one man, a stout, red-faced indi- 
vidual, who appeared dazed or befuddled. 

He stood his ground, glaring foolishly at the 
sky ship. With a quick turn of his wrist Roy 
swept the big biplane aside, but a wing tip 
brushed the stout man, toppling him over in a 
twinkling. By the time Roy had stopped his ma- 
chine the man was on his feet again, bellowing 
furiously. He was not hurt, but his face was 
contorted with anger. 

He pushed his way through the crowd toward 
the young aviator. 

“You young scoundrel!” he yelled, ‘Til fix you 
for that! Til ” 

“Look out, here come the rest of them!” 
shouted the crowd at this juncture. 


92 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


Nobody needed any warning this time. They 
fled in all directions as one after the other the 
Golden Butterfly, the Red Dragon and the pretty, 
graceful Dart dropped to earth. 

“Wa’al, look at them gals, will yer!” shouted a 
voice in the crowd. 

“What’s the country coming to?” demanded 
another man. “Gals gallivanting around like 
gol-dinged birds!” 

But the majority of the crowd took the pretty 
girl aviators to its heart. Somebody set up a 
cheer. 

It was still ringing out when, to the huge re- 
lief of the embarrassed girls, the auto came roll- 
ing up with Miss Prescott and “The Wren,” as 
they still called the latter. 

The girls, leaving the boys to look after the 
aeroplanes, ran to the side of the car and were 
speedily ensconced in its roomy tonneau. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


93 


“We’ll see you at the hotel!” cried Roy, as the 
car rolled off again, much to the disappointment 
of the crowd. 

Two local constables came up at this juncture 
and helped the boys keep the crowd back from 
the machines. The throng seemed souvenir mad. 
Many of them insisted on writing their names 
with pencils on the wings of the air craft. Oth- 
ers would have gone further and actually stripped 
the aeroplanes of odd parts had they not been 
held back. 

“This is the last time we’ll land in a town of 
this size,” declared Roy indignantly, as he helped 
the constables shove back an obstreperous indi- 
vidual who insisted on examining the motor of 
the Dart. 

With the help of the constables a sheltering 
place for the machines was finally found. A liv- 


94 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


ery stable that had gone out of business the week 
before was located across the street from the 
small park in which they had alighted. The 
owner of the property happened to be in the 
crowd and a bargain with him was soon struck. 
The aeroplanes were then trundled on their land- 
ing wheels into this shelter and the doors closed. 
Roy, for a small sum, engaged a tall, gangling- 
looking youth, whose name was Tam Tammas, 
to guard the doors and keep off the inquisitive. 

This done, thoroughly tired out, the boys 
sought the hotel. Like most towns of its size 
and importance Meadville only boasted one hos- 
telry worthy of the name. This place, the Foun- 
tain House, as it was called, was a decent enough 
looking hotel and the young aviators were 
warmly welcomed. After supper, for in Mead- 
ville nobody “dined,” Miss Prescott and the girls 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


95 


sauntered out with The Wren to obtain some 
clothing for the waif who had so strangely come 
into their possession. It was odd, but somehow 
they none of them- even suggested giving up the 
queer little foundling to the authorities as had 
originally been their intention. Instead, al- 
though none of them actually voiced it, it ap- 
peared that tacitly they had decided to keep the 
child with them. 

While they were gone on their errand of help- 
fulness Roy and Jimsy were seated on the porch 
of the hotel watching, with more or less languid 
interest, the inhabitants of the town passing 
back and forth. Many of them lingered in front 
of the hotel, for aviators were not common ob- 
jects in that part of the country, and already the 
party had become local celebrities. 

“I guess we’ll go inside,” said Roy, at length, 


96 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“I’m getting sick of being looked at as if I was 
some sort of natural curiosity/’ 

“Same here,” rejoined Jimsy, “we’ll go in and 
I’ll play you a game of checkers.” 

“You’re on,” was the response. 

But as the boys rose to go, or rather the in- 
stant before they left their seats, there came a 
heavy step behind Roy and a gruff voice snarled : 

“What are you doing in that chair?” 

“Sitting in it,” responded Roy, in not too pleas- 
ant a voice. The tone in which he had been ad- 
dressed had aroused a hot resentment in him 
toward the speaker. 

Turning he saw the same red-faced man whom 
he had been unfortunate enough to knock down. 

Instantly his manner changed. He felt genu- 
inely sorry for the accident and hastened to ex- 
plain that such was the case. But a glowering 
glance was the only response he received. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


97 


“You done it a-purpose. Don’t tell me,” 
snarled the red-faced individual, “an’ now you 
git right out uv that chair or — or I’ll make you !” 

Both boys stared at the man in amazement. 
His tone was coarse and bullying to a degree. 

We are not occupying these chairs to your 
inconvenience,” declared Roy stoutly, “there are 
lots of others.” 

He indicated several rockers placed at inter- 
vals along the hotel porch, and all empty. 

“That chair you’re sitting in is mine,” snapped 
the man, in response. 

“Got a mortgage on it, eh?” smiled Jimsy am- 
iably. 

“I’ll show you kids how much of a mortgage 
I’ve got on it,” was the reply. 

It was just then that a lad of about Roy’s own 
age, but with a surly, hang-dog sort of look, 
emerged from the smoking-room of the hotel. 


98 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“What’s up, father?” he demanded, addressing 
the red-faced man. 

“Why, Dan, the kids have appropriated my 
chair.” 

“Oh, those flying kids. Well, they’ll see that 
they ain’t everything around here,” responded 
the lad; “I reckon Jim Cassell has some say here, 
eh, dad?” 

“I reckon so, son,” grinned the red-faced man, 
in response to this elegant speech; “now, then, 
are you going to give up that chair or not?” 

“I was just leaving it when you came out,” re- 
joined Roy, who, by this time, was fairly boiling 
over. “Under the present conditions, however, 
I think I shall continue to occupy it.” 

“You will, eh?” snarled out Dan Cassell; 
“then I’ll show you how to vacate it — so!” 

With the words he laid hands on the back of 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


99 


the chair and jerked it from under the young avi- 
ator. Roy, caught entirely off his guard, was 
flung to the floor of the porch. He was up in a 
flash, but as he rose to his feet Dan Cassell, evi- 
dently excited by what he deetned a great tri- 
umph, aimed a savage blow at him. 

Jimsy was rushing to his assistance but the 
red-faced man suddenly blocked his path. 

“Hold off, son! hold off!” he warned, “unless 


you want to get the same dose.” 





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1 


' 






CHAPTER VIII. 


ROY MAKES AN ENEMY. 

In the meantime Roy had skillfully avoided 
Dan Cassell’s blow, and was aggressively on the 
defensive. He was a lad who did not care for 
fighting, but notwithstanding was a trained 
boxer. Something of this seemed to dawn on 
Dan Cassell as the boy he sought to pummel 
dodged his attack with such cleverness. 

For a moment Dan stood stock-still with dou- 
bled up fists and a scowl on his not unhandsome, 
though weak and vicious features. Then, with 
a bellow, he rushed upon Roy, who contented 
himself by sidestepping the furious onslaught. 

This appeared to enrage Dan Cassell the more. 


101 


102 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


Either he interpreted it as portraying cowardice, 
or else he deemed that he had his opponent at his 
mercy. At any rate, after an instant's pause he 
rushed at Roy with both fists. It was the young 
aviator's opportunity. 

“Look out!" he warned. 

The next instant the pugnacious Dan Cassell 
found himself upon his back, regarding a multi- 
tude of constellations. 

At almost precisely the same time Jimsy's fist 
happened to collide with the point of the jaw of 
the fallen battler's father. 

“Sorry; but I simply had to, you know," re- 
marked the nonchalant Jimsy, as the red-faced 
man found himself occupying a position not dis- 
similar to that of his son. 

Both boys were heartily sorry for what had 
happened, the more so for the reason that at the 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


103 


very instant that both crestfallen bullies were 
scrambling to their feet the hotel door opened 
and several of the guests came out to ascertain 
the cause of the trouble. 

Among them was Jonas Hardcastle, the pro- 
prietor of the place. 

“What’s up? What’s the trouble?” he de- 
manded, in dismay, as he viewed the scene of the 
confusion. 

“It’s those brats of aviators, or whatever they 
call themselves,” bellowed Cassell, who was pur- 
ple with fury; “they attacked Dan and me and 
assaulted us brutally.” 

The landlord looked doubtingly at the man. 
Then he turned to Roy. 

“What are the facts ?” he asked. 

Roy told him unhesitatingly the whole truth. 
When he had concluded Jonas Hardcastle spoke. 


104 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“You’ve been hanging around here too long, 
Jim Cassell,” he said, in a voice that quivered 
with indignation; “now make yourself scarce, 
both you and your son. Don’t annoy my guests 
any more.” 

Cassell, nursing a spot on his jaw which was 
rapidly growing a beautiful plum color, lurched 
off without a word. His son followed. It was 
not until he reached the street that he spoke. 
Then, in a voice that trembled from suppressed 
fury, he hissed out : 

“All right for you kids. You think you’ve 
played a smart trick on Dan and me; but I’ll fix 
you! Just watch!” 

Without uttering another syllable he slouched 
off into the gathering darkness, followed by his 
son, who bestowed a parting scowl on Roy and 
Jimsy. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


105 


‘Tm sorry that you had a row with them,” re- 
marked Jonas Hardcastle, as the pair vanished. 

“How’s that?” inquired Roy. “They forced it 
on us, and ” 

“I know. I know all about that,” was the re- 
joinder, “but Cassell is quite by way of being a 
politician hereabouts, and he might try to make 
it uncomfortable for you.” 

“In what way?” demanded Jimsy. 

“Oh, many ways. Those fellows have no scru- 
ples. To tell you the truth, boys, I guess you 
haven’t heard the last of this.” 

With this he left them, a prey to no very com- 
fortable thoughts. 

“I’m half inclined to believe what he said,” 
declared Jimsy. 

“In just what way?” 

“Why, about the harm this fellow Cassell can 


106 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


do us. In every community like this you’ll find 
one local Tooh-bah’ who runs things pretty much 
as he likes. They have satellites who will do just 
about as they’re told.” 

“You mean ” 

“That we’d better keep a good lookout on the 
aeroplanes. From my judgment of Cassell I 
don’t think he’s got nerve enough to attack us 
directly, but he can wreak his vengeance on our 
machines if we don’t watch pretty closely.” 

“I’m inclined to think you’re right. But don’t 
say a word of all this to the girls. It might up- 
set them. You and I will decide on a plan of 
action later on. To tell you the truth, I’m not 
any too sure of our newly acquired watchman, 
Tam Tammas.” 

“Nor I. We’ll wait till the rest get back and 
then take a stroll down to that livery stable. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


107 


Seems funny, doesn't it, to stable aeroplanes in 
a livery stable?" 

“Well, why not? Wasn't Pegasus, the first 
flying machine on record, a horse ?" 

“Humph; that's so," agreed Jimsy, whose sup- 
ply of classical knowledge was none too plentiful. 

It was not long after this that the girls re- 
turned. With them came The Wren in a neat 
dress and new shoes, an altogether different 
looking little personage from the waif of the 
woods whom they had rescued at noon. 

“Why, Wren," cried Peggy, “you are posi- 
tively pretty. In a month's time we won't know 
you." 

“A month's time ?" sighed the child ; “am I go- 
ing to stay with you as long as that?" 

Miss Prescott caught the wan little figure in 


her arms. 


108 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Yes, and many months after that,” she cried. 
Roy and Jimsy exchanged glances. 

“Another member of the family,” exclaimed 
Roy; “if we go at this rate we’ll have acquired 
an entire set of new sisters by the time we reach 
the Big Smokies.” 


MOTOE BUTTEEFLY 


109 


CHAPTER IX. 

JIMSY FAIylvS ASU^P. 

“Anybody been around, Tam? ,, 

Roy asked the question, as later on that even- 
ing he and Jimsy dropped around to the disused 
livery stable in accordance with their plan. 

Tam shook his head. 

“Nobody bane round,” he rejoined, and then, 
after a moment's pause, “ 'cept Yim Cassell and 
his boy Dan.” 

“Jim Cassell and his son,” echoed Roy, “the 
very people we don't want around here. / What 
did they want?” 

“They want know where you bane,” rejoined 
the Norwegian youth. 


110 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


"Yes; and what did you tell them?” 

"I bane tell them I shall not know,” responded 
Tam. 

"And then?” 

"They bane ask me if ay have key by door.” 
"Oh, they did, eh? What did you say?” 

"I say I bane not have key.” 

"Then what did they do?” 

"They bane go ’way.” 

"Didn’t say anything else?” 

"No, they yust go.” 

"Said nothing about coming back?” 

"No.” 

"All right, Tam, you can go home now. 
Here’s your money.” 

"You bane want me no more?” 


"No; we’ll watch here ourselves to-night. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


111 


“Good night, ” rejoined Tam, pocketing his 
money and shuffling off down the street. 

He had hardly gone two blocks when from the 
shadow of an elm-shaded yard the figure of Dan 
Cassell slipped out and intercepted him. 

“So you’ve been fired, eh ?” 

He shot the question at the simple-minded Nor- 
wegian lad with vicious emphasis. 

“No, I no bane fired; they bane tell me no want 
me more. ,, 

“Well, isn’t that being fired? Moreover, I 
can tell you that they’ve hired another fellow in 
your place.” 

The Norwegian youth’s light blue eyes lit up 
with indignant fire. Like most of his race he 
was keenly sensitive once aroused, and while he 
was quite agreeable to being dropped from his 
temporary job, he hated to think of being sup- 


112 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


planted in it. Crafty Dan Cassell was playing 
his cards well, for a purpose that will be seen ere 
long. 

“So they bane fire me,” ejaculated Tam. 

“That’s the size of it. I guess you feel pretty 
sore, Tam, don’t you?” 

“No, they bane pay me wale; but I no like be- 
ing fired.” 

“I should think not. The idea of a man like 
you being dropped. What did they tell you when 
they let you go ?” 

“That they bane watch place theyselves.” 

Dan Cassell smiled. His crafty methods had 
elicited something of real value after all. 

“Did they say they were going to watch all 
night?” he asked. 

“Yes,” rejoined the Norwegian, “they ask 


about you, too.” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


113 


“Humph! What did they want to know?” 

“If you'd been round by stable and what I 
bane tale you.” 

“What did you say?” 

“I tale them the truth. I say that you and 
your father bane by stable this evening.” 

Dan's face darkened. 

“You had no business to tell them anything,” 
he snarled. Then, with a sudden change of 
front: “See here, Tam, do you want to make 
some money?” 

“Sure, I bane like make money.” 

“Then come into the house a minute. Dad and 
I want to talk to you.” 

So saying Dan took the Norwegian by the arm 
and led him in through a gate in a whitewashed 
picket fence. Beyond the fence was a fairly 
prosperous looking house, on the piazza of which 
lounged Jim Cassell smoking a cigar. 


114 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Well, Tam,” he said, “lost your job?” 

The Norwegian replied in the affirmative. 

“Well, never mind, Fve got another for you,” 
replied Jim Cassell, in what was for him an un- 
wontedly amiable tone; “can you go to work at 
once ?” 

“Ay bane work any time skol be,” spoke the 
Norwegian, and a puzzled expression flitted over 
his face as both Cassells broke into what was to 
him an inexplicable fit of laughter at his words. 

In the meantime the boys had telephoned to 
the hotel that work on the aeroplanes would de- 
tain them till late. They did not wish to inform 
the girls that they were undertaking a night 
watch, as that would have led to all sorts of 
questions, and if their fears proved ungrounded 
they felt pretty sure of coming in for a lot of 
“joshing.” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


115 


They agreed to divide the night into two parts, 
Jimsy watching till midnight and then awaken- 
ing Roy who would take up the vigil till dawn. 
This arrangement having been made they se- 
cured a light lantern from an adjacent hardware 
store and, entering the deserted livery stable, 
prepared to carry out their plans. With the can- 
vas covers of the aeroplanes Roy managed to 
fix up quite a comfortable bed on a pile of hay 
left in a sort of loft over the abandoned stable. 

As for Jimsy, he made himself as comfortable 
as possible in the chassis of the Golden Butterfly, 
the seats of which were padded as luxuriously as 
those of a touring car. He had a book dealing 
with aeronautic subjects with him, and, drawing 
the lantern close to the aeroplane, he buried him- 
self in the volume. 

In the meantime Roy had rolled himself up in 


116 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


his canvas coverings and was sound asleep. For 
a long time Jimsy read on. At first frequent 
footsteps passed the door of the stable, but as it 
grew later these ceased. Folks went to bed early 
in Meadville. Long before midnight there was 
not a sound on the streets. 

Jimsy read doggedly on. But he was pain- 
fully conscious of an almost irresistible desire to 
lie back and doze off, if only for a few seconds. 
The exciting events of the day had tired him 
out, nor was the book he was reading one calcu- 
lated to keep his wits stirring. It was a tech- 
nical work of abstruse character. 

Jimsy’s head began to nod. With a sharp ef- 
fort he aroused himself only to catch himself 
dozing off once more. 

“See here, Jim Bancroft, this won’t do,” he 
sharply admonished himself, “you’re on duty, 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


117 


understand? On duty! Wake up and keep your 
eyes open/’ 

But try as he would tired Nature finally as- 
serted herself. Jimsy’s head fell forward, his 
eyes closed for good and he snored in right good 
earnest. He was sound asleep. 

It was about half an hour after he dozed off 
that a window in the rear of the stable framed a 
face. A crafty, eager face it was, as the yellow 
light of the lantern revealed its outlines. Dan 
Cassell, for it was he, gazed sharply about him. 
He swiftly took in the posture of the sleeping 
boy and a smile spread over his countenance. 

Dropping from the ladder he had raised out- 
side, he joined two figures waiting for him in the 
shadow of the livery barn. 

“It's too easy,” he chuckled, “only one kid 
there and he’s sound asleep. Got everything 
ready?” 


118 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Dey all bane ready, Maister Cassell," re- 
joined the slow, drawling voice of the Norwegian 
Tam. 

“Now don't botch the job," warned the elder 
Cassell, who was the third member of the party; 
“remember it means a lot of trouble for us if 
we're caught." 

“No danger of that, dad. Come on, I'll go 
first and you and Tam follow." 

“Is the window open?" 

“No, but it slides back. It's an easy drop to 
the floor from it." 

“All right, go ahead. I'll be glad when the 
job's over. I'm almost inclined to drop out 
of it." 

“And let those kids get away with what they 
did? Not much, dad. We'll give them a lesson 
they won't forget in a hurry. Come on." 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


119 


He began climbing the ladder. Behind him 
came his worthy parent, and Tam formed the 
last member of the now silent procession. The 
Norwegian carried a bulky package of some kind, 
the contents of which it would have been impos- 
sible to guess save that it gave out a metallic 
sound as Tam moved with it. 

Dan Cassell reached the window, slid it noise- 
lessly back in its grooves and then, crawling 
through, dropped lightly to the floor within. He 
was followed by his father and Tam. 

But Jimsy slept on. Slept heavily and dream- 
lessly, while deadly peril crept upon him. 













































































































































































































































































































CHAPTER X. 
piggy's intuition. 

The movements of the invaders of the stable, 
which now housed the “winged steeds” of the 
young aviators, were mysterious in the extreme. 
The Norwegian carried a tin can containing 
some sort of liquid which he was ordered to pour 
about the floor in the neighborhood of the aero- 
planes. This done, Dan Cassell collected several 
scraps of litter and made quite a pile of it. 

“All ready now, I guess,” he said, with what 
was meant as an attempt at a grin. But his lips 
were pale, and his forced jollity was a dismal 
failure. As for his father, he made no attempt 
to conceal his agitation. 


121 


122 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Dan, they may be burned alive,” he faltered ; 
“better call it all off.” 

“Not when we've gone as far as this with it,” 
was the rejoinder; “give me a match.” 

“Dan!” • 

“It's all right, dad. They’ll wake in time.” 

“But if not?” 

“Then they’ll have to take their medicine.” 

With fingers that trembled as if their owner 
was palsied, Jim Cassell handed his son some 
matches. The latter took one, bent low over the 
pile he had collected and struck the lucifer. 

A yellow sputter of flame followed, and the 
next instant he was holding it to the pile of litter 
which had been previously soaked by the con- 
tents of the Norwegian’s can. 

But before he could accomplish his purpose 
and set fire to the pile of odds and ends saturated 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


123 


to double inflammability by the kerosene the Nor- 
wegian had carried, there came a startling inter- 
ruption. 

There was a knock at the door and a girlish 
voice cried: 

“Roy ! Roy, let me in !” 

“Furies!” exclaimed Dan Cassell under his 
breath. “It's one of those girls.” 

“Come on. Let's get away quick!” exclaimed 
his father, trembling from nervous agitation. 

“Not before I set a match to this,” exclaimed 
Dan Cassell viciously. 

He touched the match to the pile and the 
flames leaped up. 

“Now for our getaway,” he cried, and the 
three fire-bugs ran for the window by which they 
had made their entrance. 

In the meantime a perfect fusillade of blows 


124 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


had been showered on the door outside. Jimsy 
awoke just as the last of the three midnight in- 
truders vanished through the window. His first 
instinct was a hot flush of shame over the feel- 
ing that he had betrayed his trust. 

Then to his ears came the voice that had 
alarmed the Cassells and their tool. 

“Roy! Jimsy! Are you there?” 

“It’s Peggy!” gasped Jimsy. 

“And Jess,” he added the next instant, and 
simultaneously there came the pounding of a 
stick on the door. 

“This is an officer of the law. Open up at 
once.” 

Jimsy, dazed by his sleep, had not till then 
noticed the blazing pile of litter. Now he did so 
with a quick cry of horror. The stuff was blaz- 
ing up fiercely. Already there was an acrid reek 
in the air. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


125 


“The place is on fire!” he shouted. 

The next moment there came a violent assault 
on the door and the crazy lock parted from its 
rotten fastenings as a man attired in a police of- 
ficer’s uniform burst into the place. Behind him 
came two wide-eyed frightened girls. The leap- 
ing flames lit up their faces vividly. 

“It’s fire sure enough !” cried the police officer. 

“Great Scot, what’s happening?” 

It was Roy who shouted the question. He was 
peering down from the loft where he had been 
sleeping. The uproar had awakened him and in 
a jiffy he was among them. 

“Quick! the fire extinguishers!” he cried, and 
Jimsy, readily understanding, secured the flame- 
killing apparatus from the biplane and from the 
Red Dragon . 

He and Roy, aided by the officer, fought the 


126 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


flames vigorously, and, luckily, were able to sub- 
due them, though if it had not been for the as 
yet unexplained arrival of Peggy and Jess it is 
doubtful if they could have coped with the blaze. 
When it was all out Peggy rushed into explana- 
tions. 

“Something warned me that you were, in dan- 
ger,” she exclaimed, “and I woke up Jess and we 
found this officer and came down here.” 

“What gift of second sight have you?” de- 
manded Roy, gazing at the smoking, blackened 
pile that had threatened the destruction of the 
inflammable premises. 

“I don’t know. Womanly intuition, perhaps. 
Oh, Roy !” 

The girl burst into a half-hysterical sob and 
threw her arms about her brother’s neck. 

“You arrived in the nick of time, sis,” he said, 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


127 


gently disengaging himself from her clasp, “a 
little more and ” 

He did not finish the sentence. There was no 
need for him to. 

“Begorry, the ould place ’ud hev bin a pile of 
cinders in an hour’s time,” declared the police- 
man. 

It was Jess’s turn to give an hysterical little 
sob. 

Roy turned to Jimsy. 

“Did you see anything? The place is reeking 
with kerosene. It was a plot to destroy the aero- 
planes and perhaps ourselves.” 

“I— I ” 

Jimsy stammered. The words seemed to choke 
up in his throat. How was he to confess that he 
had failed in his trust — had slept while danger 
threatened ? 


128 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Well?” 

Roy waited, plainly surprised. It was not like 
Jimsy to hesitate and stammer in this way. 

At last it came out with a rush. 

“I — I — you'll never forgive me, any of you — 
I was asleep.” 

“Asleep! Oh, Jimsy!” 

There was a world of reproach in Jess's voice. 
But Peggy interrupted her. 

“How was it, Jimsy?” she asked softly. 

“I don't know. I give you my word I don't 
know.” 

Jimsy's voice held a world of self-reproach. 

“I was reading,” he went on, hurrying over 
the words as if anxious to get his confession over 
with, “that book of Grotz's on monoplane naviga- 
tion. I felt sleepy and — and the next thing I 
knew I woke up to hear you pounding on the 
door and shouting.” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


129 


"A good thing the young ladies found me,” 
put in the policeman; “shure I was after laugh- 
ing at them at first, but then, begorry, I decided 
to come along with them. It’s glad I am that I 
did.” 

“Who can have done this?” asked Roy, who 
had not a word of reproach for his chum, al- 
though Jimsy had failed dismally in a position 
of trust. 

“Begorry, they might have burned you alive ! ,r 
cried the policeman indignantly. 

“No question about that,” rejoined Roy; “it 
was a diabolical plot. Who could have attempted 
such a thing?” 

“Wait till I call up and have detectives sent 
down here,” said Officer McCarthy. “Fm after 
thinking this is too deep for us to solve.” 

Nevertheless, each of that little group but the 
policeman had his or her own idea on the matter. 









































































CHAPTER XL 

A MEAN REVENGE! 

The result of the telephone call was a request 

to call at the Police Headquarters of the little 

town and give a detailed account of the affair. 

“Gracious! I should think that the only way 

to get a clue would be to send a detective down 

here,” exclaimed Peggy, on receipt of this in- 
t 

formation. 

“We have our own ways of doing them things, 
miss,” rejoined the policeman with dignity. 

Then there being nothing for it but to obey 
instructions of the authorities, they all set out 
for the police station. They were half way there 
when Jimsy recollected that they had left the 
aeroplanes unguarded. 


131 


132 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“ ’Twill make no difference at all at all,” de- 
clared the policeman ; “shure it’s too late for any- 
one to be about.” 

“It wasn’t too late for them to set that fire 
though,” rejoined Roy in a low voice. 

At police headquarters they were received by 
two sleepy-looking officials who questioned them 
at length and said they would be at the stable in 
the morning to hunt for clews. 

“Why not go after them now, while the trail 
is hot?” inquired Jimsy. 

“We have our own ways of doing these things, 
young man,” was the reply, delivered with pon- 
derous dignity. 

“Well, we might as well go to bed and get a 
few hours’ sleep anyhow,” suggested Roy ; “I can 
hardly keep my eyes open. How about you, 
Jimsy?” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


133 


“I — I — I’ve had some sleep already you 
know,” rejoined Jimsy, reddening. 

Thoroughly tired out from their long day and 
excitement, the party slept till late the next day. 
The first thing after breakfast plans for the con- 
tinuance of the trip were discussed, and the day’s 
program mapped out. This done, the girls and 
boys set out for the stable to look over the ma- 
chines. 

They found a pompous-looking policeman on 
guard in front of the place, ostentatiously pacing 
up and down. On identifying themselves they 
were at once admitted however. The man ex- 
plained that he had only been on guard for an 
hour or two, and that during that time nothing 
worthy of mention had occurred. 

While Jimsy was talking to him Roy and the 
others entered the stable. An instant later Roy, 


134 


THE GIRL AVIATORS* 


too excited to talk, came rushing out of the dis- 
used livery barn. 

"What's up now, Roy?” demanded Jimsy, gaz- 
ing at his chum, who for his part appeared to be 
too excited to get his words out. 

"There’s only three!” gasped Roy. 

"Three what?” cried Jimsy. 

"Three aeroplanes,” returned Roy. 

"Rubbish, you haven’t got your eyes open yet.” 

"I’m right, I tell you ; come in and count them 
if you don’t believe me.” 

"Roy is right,” cried Peggy, running up to 
the group ; "the Golden Butterfly has been 
stolen !” 

"Stolen!” interjected Jimsy. 

"That’s right !” cried Jess ; "those stupid police 
people left the barn unguarded. Whoever tried 
to set it on fire must have returned and stolen the 
Butterfly 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


135 


They regarded each other blankly. Was this 
Sky Cruise that they had looked forward to with 
such eager anticipation to be nothing but a series 
of mishaps? 

“It's awful !” gasped Peggy; “nothing but 
trouble since we started out.” 

“D’ye think it was stolen?” asked the police- 
man with startling intelligence. 

“Well, it didn’t fly of its own accord,” was 
Peggy’s rejoinder, delivered with blighting sar- 
casm. 

The patrolman subsided. 

“Maybe we can find it yet,” suggested Jess. 

“I’d like to know how,” put in Jimsy disgust- 
edly. 

“Perhaps we can trace it. It must have been 
wheeled away.” 

“Ginger ! That’s so,” cried Roy, snapping his 


136 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


fingers ; “it would leave an odd track too, 
wouldn’t it?” 

“Well there’s no harm in trying to trace it,” 
admitted Jimsy, who appeared rather skeptical. 

“Come on, then ; get busy,” urged Roy eagerly. 

The next instant there came a cry from Peggy. 

“I’ve struck the trail !” she cried. 

“Where?” 

The word came in chorus. 

“Here ! Look ; you know the Butterfly had pe- 
culiar kind of tires. See, it was wheeled up the 
street in that direction.” 

She pointed to where the village main thor- 
oughfare ended in a country road. 

“I’m not after takin’ much stock in that,” re- 
marked the policeman. 

“We won’t bother you,” rejoined Roy rather 
heatedly; “I guess we won’t wait till your local 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


137 


Sherlock Holmes gets on the trail, weTl follow 
it ourselves/' 

“But who'll go?" 

The question came from Jimsy. 

“We can't all go, that's certain," exclaimed 
Bess. 

“Tell you what we'll do, we'll count out," de- 
clared Jess, her eyes dancing. 

“A good idea," hailed the others. 

“Roy, you start it; but remember, not more 
than three can go." 

“Why?" inquired Peggy point blank. 

“Because we'll have to take the car, and some- 
one must be left to look after Aunt Sally and 
the aeroplanes," spoke Roy, falling in with 
Jimsy's plans. 

“Well, come on and count out," urged Jess. 

“Yes, that’s it. Let's see who will be it," cried 


the others. 


138 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Very well, if I can remember the rhyme,” re- 
sponded Roy. “How does it go anyway ?” 

“Inte, minte,” suggested Jimsy. 

“Oh, yes! That’s it,” responded Roy. “I’ve 
got it now. Inte, minte, cute corn, apple seeds 
and briar thorn, briar thorn and limber lock, 
three geese in a Hock, one flew east and one flew 
west, one flew into a cuckoo’s nest, O-U-T out, 
with a ragged dish clout, out !” ending with Bess. 

“Sorry for you, Bess!” cried the lad, “but 
you’re the first victim to be offered up.” 

“Oh, well, it’s too hot to go chasing all over 
dusty country roads,” declared Bess bravely, al- 
though she would dearly have loved to go on the 
adventurous search for the missing aeroplane. 

One after another they were counted out till 
only Roy, Peggy and Jimsy remained. 

“Hurry up and let’s get off,” urged Jimsy as 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


139 


the “elimination trials/' as they might be termed, 
were concluded. 

“Very well. WeTl get the car — it's in the 
garage at the hotel — and incidentally, we might 
get a lunch put up also. It may be a long chase." 

The officer regarded them with frank amaze- 
ment. 

“My! but you city folks rush things," he ex- 
claimed. 

“I suppose they'll get busy on this case day 
after to-morrow," exclaimed Roy disgustedly, as 
they hastened away. 

It was half an hour later that the big touring 
car, with Roy at the wheel, rolled out of the hotel 
yard. Jake had been told off to guard the livery 
stable and the aeroplanes while the rest remained 
with Miss Prescott, who was seriously agitated 
at the accumulation of troubles her party had 
met with since setting out. 


140 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“I declare,” she said, “I wish I was back at 
home where I could get a decent cup of tea and 
be free of worries.” 

The trail of the aeroplane was not difficult to 
follow. It led down the village main street and 
thence along a country road till it came to a sort 
of cross roads. Here it branched off and fol- 
lowed a by-road for a mile or so. At a gate in 
a hedge all signs failed however, although it was 
plain that the machine had been wheeled through 
the gap and taken across a field. 

Beyond this field lay what appeared to be a 
wilderness of woods and bushes. 

“Stumped !” exclaimed Roy, as he brought the 


auto to a stop. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


141 


CHAPTER XII. 

THE FINDING OF The “BUTTERFLY.” 

“Well, what next?” asked Jimsy. 

“Make a search of those woods, I suppose,” 
replied Roy; “there’s nothing else to do.” 

“No, the trail has brought us here,” replied 
Peggy energetically; “we must make a deter- 
mined effort to find the Butterfly.” 

“Maybe they’ve damaged it so that we won’t 
be able to do anything with it when we do get 
it,” spoke Jimsy presently. 

“Whom do you mean by they?” asked Roy. 

“As if you didn’t know. Is there any doubt 
in your mind that that fellow Cassell is at the 
bottom of all this?” 


142 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Not very much, Fll admit,” replied Roy; “I 
wonder if that accounts for the inactivity of the 
police.” 

“In just what way?” 

“Well, the fellow’s a local politician and has a 
lot of ‘pull’.” 

“He must have, to get away with anything 
like this,” was Jimsy’s indignant outburst. 

“Well, don’t let us waste time speculating,” 
put in Peggy, in her brisk manner ; “the thing to 
do now is to get back the Golden Butterfly 

“You’re right, Peg,” came from both boys. 

By this time they were out of the car, which 
they left standing at the roadside while they ex- 
amined the vicinity for tracks. But the grass in 
the field was fairly long and no traces remained. 
Yet, inasmuch as the tracks of the Butterfly 
ended at the gap in the hedge, it was manifest 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


143 


that that was the point at which it had been 
wheeled off the road. 

“What next?” asked Jimsy, as it became cer- 
tain that there was little use in searching for a 
trail in the meadow. 

“It’s like looking for a needle in that prover- 
bial haystack,” struck in Peggy. 

“In my opinion we need the patience of Job 
and the years of old Methuselah,” opined Jimsy. 

Roy alone was not discouraged. 

“It can’t be so very far off,” he urged; “it 
stands to reason that they can’t have come much 
further than this since midnight, supposing the 
machine to have been stolen about that hour.” 

The others agreed with him. 

“We’ll search all around here, including those 
woods,” declared Peggy. 

“Well, they can’t have taken it very far into 


144 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


the woods, ” declared Jimsy; “the spread of its 
wings would prevent that.” 

“That's so,” agreed Roy; “I think we are get- 
ting pretty ‘warm' right now.” 

“All I am afraid of is that they may have dam- 
aged it,” breathed Peggy anxiously. 

“It would be in line with their other tactics,” 
agreed Roy; “men who would try to burn down 
a stable with two boys in it, just to obtain re- 
venge for a fancied insult or injury, are capable 
of anything.” 

Without further waste of time they crossed 
the meadow and came to the edge of the wood. 
At the outskirts of the woods the trees grew 
thinly and it was plain that it would have been 
possible to wheel an aeroplane into their shadow, 
despite the breadth of its wing-spread. 

They passed under the outlying trees and pres- 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


145 - 


ently emerged into a small, open space, in the 
midst of which was a hut. Just beyond this hut 
was a sight that caused them to shout aloud with 
joy. There, apparently unharmed, stood the 
missing aeroplane. 

“Hurray!” shouted Roy, dashing forward. 

The others were close on his heels. In their 
excitement they paid little or no attention to the 
surroundings. It might have been better for 
them had they done so. As they dashed across 
the clearing two male figures slipped off among 
the thicker trees that lay beyond the open space 
and the hut. 

A brief examination showed them that the 
aeroplane was undamaged. There were a few 
scratches on it, but beyond that it appeared in 
perfect condition. 

“WeTl fly back,” declared Jimsy to Peggy; 


Roy can run the auto home.” 


146 


THE GIRL AVIATORS 5 


“That's agreeable to me," responded Roy ; “but 
suppose we examine the vicinity first. We might 
get a clew as to the rascals who are responsible 
for this." 

“That's true," agreed Jimsy. 

“Then suppose we start with the hut first." 

They accepted this proposition eagerly. The 
hut was a substantial looking building with a pad- 
lock on the door. But the portal stood wide open, 
the padlock hanging in a hasp. 

“What if anyone pounces on us ?" asked Peggy 
in rather a scared tone. 

“No fear of that," replied Roy, “the place is 
plainly unoccupied." 

They entered the hut and found it to be as 
primitive inside as its exterior would indicate. 
A table and two rude chairs stood within. These, 
with the exception of a rusty cook stove in one 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


147 


corner, formed the sole furnishings. There was 
not even a window in the place. 

“Nothing much to be found here,” declared 
Roy after a cursory examination; “I guess this 
shack was put up by lumbermen or hunters. It 
doesn’t seem to have been occupied for a long 
time.” 

“I guess the men who took the aeroplane must 
have been pretty familiar with the place though,” 
opined Jimsy. 

“No doubt of that,” replied Roy, “but that 
doesn’t give us any clew to their identity beyond 
bare suspicions.” 

“Yes, and suspicions aren’t much good in law,” 
chimed in Peggy, “they — Good gracious !” 

The door closed suddenly with a bang. Be- 
fore Jimsy could spring across the room to open 
it there came a sharp click. 


148 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Somebody’s padlocked it on the outside!” he 
cried. 

“And we’re prisoners !” gasped Peggy. 

“Yes, and without any chance of getting out, 
either,” declared Jimsy; “there’s not even a win- 
dow in the place.” 

“Well this is worse and more of it,” cried 
Roy. “Who can have done that?” 

“The same people that stole the Golden Butter- 
fly” declared Peggy. “Hark!” 

Outside they heard rapidly retreating foot- 
steps, followed by a harsh laugh. 

“Let us out !” shouted Roy. 

“You can stay there till judgment day, for all 
I care,” came back a hoarse, rasping voice ; “you 
kids were too fresh, and now you’re getting 
what’s coming to you.” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


149 


CHAPTER XIII. 

PRISONERS IN THE HUT. 

It was almost pitch dark within the hut. Only 
from a crack under the door could any light 
enter. For an instant after the taunting of the 
voices of the men who had locked them in 
reached their ears, the trio of youthful prisoners 
remained silent. 

Peggy it was who spoke first. 

“Well, what’s to be done now?” she demanded. 

“We’ve got to get out of here,” responded 
Jimsy, with embarrassing candor. 

“That’s plain enough,” struck in Roy; “but 
how do you propose to do it?” 

“I don’t know; let’s look about. Maybe there’s 


a chimney or something.” 


150 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“There's no opening larger than that one 
where the stove pipe goes through. I've noticed 
that already," responded Roy. 

“Phew! This is a fix for fair." 

“I should say so; but kicking about it won't 
help us at all. Let's make a thorough investiga- 
tion." 

In the darkness they groped about, but could 
discover nothing that appeared to hold out a 
promise of escape. The two boys shook the door 
violently; but it was firm on its hinges. 

Next Roy proposed to cut a way through it 
with his pocket knife. 

“We'd be starved to death by the time you cut 
through that stuff," declared Jimsy. 

In proof of this he kicked the door, and the 
resulting sound showed that it was built of solid 
wood without any thin panels which might be 
cut through. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


151 


“What next?” 

P e ggy asked the question as the two perspir- 
ing lads stood perplexed without speaking or 
moving. 

“Jiggered if I know,” spoke Jimsy; “can't you 
or Roy think of anything?” 

“We might try to batter the door down with 
that table,” suggested Roy. 

“It's worth trying. We've got to get out of 
here somehow.” 

The two boys picked up the heavy, roughly 
made table and commenced a violent assault on 
the door. But although they dented it heavily, 
and sent some splinters flying, the portal held its 
own. At length they desisted from pure weari- 
ness. The situation looked hopeless. 

“It looks pretty bad,” spoke Jimsy. 

“It does indeed,” agreed Roy. “Peggy, I 


wish we hadn't brought you along.” 


152 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“And why, pray, Roy Prescott ?” 

“Oh, because — because, well, this isn’t the sort 
of thing for a girl.” 

“Well, I guess if my brother can stand it I 
can,” rejoined the girl, pluckily and in a firm 
voice. 

“Well, there’s no use minimizing the fix we’re 
in,” declared Roy. “This is a lonesome bit of 
country. It may be a week before anyone will 
come around. We’ve just got to get out, that’s 
all there is to it.” 

“I wish you’d solve the problem then,” sighed 
Jimsy; “it’s too much for me.” 

“I’ll make another search of the premises, 
maybe we can stumble across something that may 
aid us. At any rate, it will give us something to 
do and keep our minds off the predicament we 
are in.” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


153 


Roy struck a match, of which he had a plenti- 
ful supply in his pockets. As the yellow flame 
sputtered up in the semi-gloom it showed every 
corner of the small hut. But it did not reveal 
anything that promised a chance to gain their 
liberty. 

All at once, just as the light was sputtering 
out, Peggy gave a cry. Her eye had been caught 
by a glistening metal object in one corner of the 
hut. 

“What is it?” asked Roy. 

“A gun — a shot-gun standing in that corner 
over there.” 

“Huh!” sniffed Jimsy, “a lot of good that does 
us.” 

“On the contrary,” declared Peggy stoutly, “if 
it's loaded it may serve to get us free.” 

“Pm from Missouri,” declared Jimsy enigmati- 
cally. 


154 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“What’s your idea, sis?” asked Roy, who knew 
that Peggy’s ideas were usually worth follow- 
ing up. 

“I remember reading only a short time ago 
of a man trapped much as we are who escaped 
by blowing off the lock of his prison with a gun 
he carried,” replied Peggy; “maybe it would 
work in our case.” 

“Maybe it would if ” rejoined Roy. 

“If what?” 

“If the gun was loaded, which is most un- 
likely.” 

“Well, try it and see,” urged Peggy. 

“Yes, do,” echoed Jimsy; “Peggy’s plan sounds 
like a good idea. Maybe some hunter left it here 
and the shells are still in it.” 

“No harm in finding out anyway,” declared 
Roy. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


155 


He struck another match and picked up the 
gun. It was an antique looking weapon badly 
rusted. But on opening the breech he uttered a 
cry of joy. 

“Good luck!” he exclaimed, “two shells, — one 
in each barrel.” 

“Well, put it to the test,” urged Jimsy. 

“All right. If this fails, though, I don't know 
what we'll do.” 

“Don't worry about that now. Try it.” 

“I'm going to. Don't get peevish.” 

Roy crossed the room to the door. Raising the 
gun to his shoulder he placed the muzzle about 
opposite to where he thought the padlock must 
be located. 

“Look out for a big noise, sis,” he warned. 

Peggy gave a little scream and raised her 
hands to her ears. She disliked firearms. 


156 


THE GIRL AVIATORS' 


“Ready?” sang out Jimsy. 

“All ready,” came the reply. 

“Then fire!” 

Simultaneously with Jimsy’s order came a 
deafening report. In that confined space it 
sounded as if a huge cannon had been fired. Roy 
staggered back under the “kick” of the heavy 
charge. 

“Once more,” he announced. 

Again a sonorous report sounded, but this 
time a section of the door was blown right out 
of the framework. The daylight streamed in 
through it. 

“Now then for the test,” cried Roy. “Come 
on, Jimsy.” 

The two boys placed their shoulders to the 
door. With a suddenness that was startling, it 
burst open, and they faced freedom. The lock 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


157 


had been fairly driven from its hold by the twice 
repeated charge of shot. 

The young aviators were free once more. But 
it remained to be seen if the men who wished 
them harm had wrought their vengeance on the 
Golden Butterfly . 






CHAPTER XIV. 

WHAT's TO be: done: WITH the: wre:n ? 

The Golden Butterfly , as an examination 
proved, had not been damaged during their im- 
prisonment in the hut. Evidently, the men who 
had slammed the door and padlocked it had made 
off at top speed as soon as they had completed 
what they hoped would be a source of sore 
trouble to the young aviators. 

“And now we’ll fly back as agreed,” declared 
Peggy merrily. 

Her spirits, almost down to zero in the hut, 
had recovered themselves marvellously in the 
fresh open air. She was radiant. 

“I declare that the stay in the hut has done 


159 


160 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


you good,” declared Jimsy, looking at her admir- 
ingly. 

“Maybe it has — by contrast,” returned Peggy. 

“Like a sea trip,” put in Roy. “I've heard that 
people who suffer from sea sickness are so much 
relieved when they get ashore that they imagine 
their good spirits are due to a change in their 
condition.” 

“Well, that applies to me,” returned Peggy; 
“I didn't think we'd get out of that hut so easily. 
How do you suppose that gun came to be there ?” 

“The hunters who use the hut must have left 
it there,” rejoined Roy; “I wonder if they'll ever 
know how useful it was to us.” 

“More likely they’ll be mad when they find that 
the lock is blown off the door,” laughed Jimsy. 

“Well, so-long, folks, I'm going to start back 
in the auto,” declared Roy. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


161 


“We’ll beat you into town/’ challenged Jimsy. 

“More than likely, if the Golden Butterfly is 
doing her best/’ was the rejoinder. 

Ten minutes later the two machines were rac- 
ing back to Meadville at almost top speed. Of 
course the speedy Golden Butterfly won, but then 
a vehicle of the air does not have to contend with 
the obstacles that a land conveyance does. 

They found Miss Prescott almost on the verge 
of hysterics. A garbled version of the events 
of the night had been brought to her and this, 
coupled w r ith the long absence of the three young 
folks, had made her extremely nervous. 

“I declare, it seems as if you just can't keep 
out of trouble," she said. 

“Well, it actually does seem so, I admit," con- 
fessed Peggy; “but we promise to be very good 
for the rest of the trip." 


162 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“And never trouble trouble till trouble troubles 
us,” chanted Jimsy airily. 

“That’s all very well, but you keep me con- 
tinually in suspense as to what you’ll do next,” 
almost wailed Miss Prescott. “We set out 
for a quiet trip and encounter nothing but 
troubles ” 

“Adventures, Aunt Sally,” laughingly cor- 
rected Roy; “what is life without adventures?” 

“Well, I’m sure I don’t know what young peo- 
ple are coming to,” sighed Miss Prescott with 
resignation. “There’s another thing, what are 
we to do with this little Wren?” 

“We can’t leave her here, that’s certain,” de- 
clared Peggy with vehemence. 

“No, indeed,” echoed Jess and Bess, who were 
of the council. 

“Then what are we to do with her ?” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


163 


“Just tote her along, I suppose/’ rejoined 
Peggy; “poor little thing, she doesn’t take up 
much room; besides, Jess thinks she’s an heir- 
ess.” 

They all laughed. 

“You must have had an overdose of Laura 
Jean Libby,” declared Roy. 

“Roy Prescott, you behave yourself,” cried 
Jess, flushing up ; “besides, she has a strawberry 
mark on her left arm.” 

“My gracious, then she surely is a missing 
heiress,” exclaimed Jimsy teasingly; “all well- 
regulated missing heiresses have strawberry 
marks and almost always on their left arm.” 

It was at this juncture that a knock came at 
the door. A bell boy stood outside. 

“A gentleman to see you, sir,” he said, hand- 
ing Roy a card. 


164 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


On it was printed: “Mr. James Kennedy, De- 
tective, Meadville Police Station.” 

“Goodness, a real detective!” exclaimed Jess 
excitedly; “let’s see him.” 

“You won’t be much impressed I’m afraid,” 
rejoined Roy with a smile at his recollection of 
the Meadville sleuths. 

“Why, doesn’t he wear glasses, have a hawk- 
like nose and smoke a pipe?” inquired Bess. 

“And hunt up missing heiresses?” teasingly 
struck in Jimsy. 

“No, he’s a very different sort of person. But 
hush ! he’s coming now.” 

A heavy tread sounded in the hall and Mr. 
James Kennedy, Detective of the Meadville Po- 
lice Force, stood before them. As Jimsy had 
said, he was not impressive as to outward appear- 
ance, although his fat, heavy face, and rather 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


165 


vacant eyes, might have concealed a giant intel- 
lect. 

“I’ve investigated the case of the attempted 
burning of the stable last night,” he began. 

"Yes,” exclaimed Roy eagerly. "Have you 
any suspicions as to who did it ?” 

The man shook his head. 

"As yet we have no clews,” he declared, "and 
I don’t think we’ll get any.” 

"That’s too bad,” replied Roy, "but let me tell 
you something that may help you.” 

The lad launched into a description of their ad- 
ventures of the morning. 

"That hut belongs to Luke Higgins, a respect- 
able man who is out West at present,” said the 
detective when Roy had finished. "He uses it 
as a sort of hunting box in the rabbit shooting 
season. He couldn’t have had anything to do 
with it.” 


166 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“I’d like to know his address so that I could 
write and thank him for leaving that gun there,” 
declared Peggy warmly. 

The detective shook his head solemnly. 

“I reckon you young folks had better stop skee- 
daddling round the country this way,” he said 
with heavy conviction ; “you’ll only get into more 
trouble. Flying ain’t natural no more than crow- 
ing hens is.” 

With this he picked up his hat, and, after as- 
suring them that he would find a clew within a 
short time, he departed, leaving behind him a 
company in which amusement mingled with in- 
dignation. In fact, so angry was Roy over the 
stupidity or ignorance of the Meadville police, 
that he himself set out on a hunt to detect the 
authors of the outrages upon the young aviators. 

The sole result of his inquiry however was to 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


167 


establish the fact that both Cassells had left 
town, closing their house and announcing that 
they would be gone for some time. 

As there was nothing further to be gained by 
remaining in Meadville, the entire party, after 
lunch, set out once more, a big crowd witnessing 
the departure of the aerial tourists. 

They flew fast, and as the roads were excellent 
the auto had no difficulty in keeping up with 
them. On through the afternoon they soared 
along, sometimes swooping low above an allur- 
ing bit of scenery and again heading their ma- 
chines skyward in pure exuberance of spirits. 
Their troubles at Meadville forgotten, they flew 
their machines like sportive birds ; never had any 
of them experienced more fully the joy of flight, 
the sense of freedom that comes from traveling 
untrammeled into the ether. 


168 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


They had passed above a small village and 
were flying low, those in the auto waving to 
them, when Peggy, in the Golden Butterfly , gave 
a sudden exclamation. 

“Oh, look ,” she shouted, “a flock of sheep, and 
right in the path of the auto.” 

At that moment all of them saw the sheep, a 
large flock, headed by a belligerent looking ram 
with immense horns. Jake, who was driving the 
car, slowed up as he approached the flock. The 
woolly herd, huddled together helplessly, made 
no effort to get out of the road. Behind them a 
man and a boy shouted and yelled vigorously, but 
with no more effect than to bunch the animals 
more squarely in the path of the advancing car. 

All at once, just as the car was slowed down 
to almost a walking pace, a big ram separated 
himself from the flock and actually rushed for 
the front seat of the car. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


169 


Jake uttered a yell as the woolly creature gave 
him a hard butt, knocking him out of his seat. 
But this wasn't all. 

By some strange freak the animal had landed 
in the car in a sitting posture. Now the young 
aviators roared with laughter to behold the crea- 
ture seated in Jake's forcibly vacated place. Its 
hoofs rested on the driving wheel. 

Forward plunged the car, its queer driver with 
his feet wedged in the spokes of the steering 
wheel. Aloft the flock of young aviators roared 
with laughter at the sight. It was the oddest ex- 
perience they had yet had — this spectacle of a 
grave-looking, long-horned ram driving an auto, 
while Jake prudently kept out of reach of those 
horns. As for Miss Prescott and The Wren, 
they cowered back in the tonneau in keen alarm. 

“Oh!" cried Peggy suddenly, “there comes a 


170 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


runabout; that ram will surely collide with it!” 

A runabout coming in the opposite direction 
dashed round a corner of the country road at this 
juncture. The driver was a young girl, but she 
was veiled and her features could not be seen 
under the thick face covering. 

Apparently the ram saw the other car coming, 
for the animal actually appeared to make a half- 
way intelligent effort to steer the car out of the 
road. 

For her part the girl in the runabout swerved 
her car from side to side in a struggle to avoid 
a collision, which appeared inevitable. 

“Stop it!” shrieked Bess; “she’ll be killed.” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


171 


CHAPTER XV. 

A RAMBUNCTIOUS RAM. 

The ram evidently saw the other car coming; 
it tried to leap out but its hoofs were jammed in 
the spokes of the steering wheel. Before Jake 
could pick himself up from the floor of the front 
part of the car there came a loud shriek from 
the runabout. It was echoed by Miss Prescott 
and The Wren. 

Crash ! 

The two cars came together with a fearful jolt. 

The eyes of the young aviators aloft were fixed 
on the scene. They saw the large car strike the 
runabout and crumple its engine hood. Peggy 
gave a scream. 

The ram, jolted out of its seat by the force of 


172 


THE GIEL AVIATORS’ 


the collision, fell out to one side, allowing Jake 
to resume control of the wheel. But the run- 
about! It was ditched, its unfortunate occupant 
being pitched headlong into a ditch at the side 
of the road. 

Down swept the aeroplanes, and there was a 
wild rush to the rescue. Peggy, Jess and Bess 
ran to the side of the injured occupant of the 
strange runabout. The boys divided themselves, 
attending to everything. 

“Roy! Roy! hurry, she’s unconscious!” 

The cry came from Peggy as she rushed to the 
side of the young motorist. 

Roy was not far off, and, at his sister’s cry, 
he hastened to her side. Peggy had the girl’s 
head in her lap. 

“Get water !” she cried. 

But Jimsy was already on hand with a collaps- 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


173 


ible aluminum cup full of water from a near by 
spring. 

“Oh, the poor dear,” sighed Peggy, “to think 
that our fun should have ” 

The strange girl opened her eyes. 

“Who are you?” she exclaimed. “Where is 
my machine?” 

“Never mind for a minute,” spoke Peggy, see- 
ing that Jimsy and Jake were trying to drag the 
machine out of the ditch, “we'll fix it, never 
fear.” 

“Oh, my head!” groaned the girl. 

“That pesky ram,” exploded Roy angrily; “let 
me help you up into the road, youTl be more 
comfortable.” 

“Oh, thank you, I can stand,” came faintly 
from the injured girl. “I — am — much better 
now. What happened?” 


174 


THE GIRL AVIATORS* 


“Why a sort of volunteer driver was experi- 
menting with our car, and I guess he made a 
mistake in driving,” smilingly explained Roy. 

“Oh, that ram !” cried the girl half hysterically. 
“I thought I had a nightmare at first.” 

“I don’t blame you,” smiled Peggy, “seeing a 
ram driving a motor car is apt to give one such 
ideas.” 

“Are you really better?” asked Jess sympa- 
thetically as she came up. 

“Peggy, get my smelling salts out of the travel- 
ing bag!” cried Miss Prescott anxiously. 

The accident had disturbed her sadly. The 
only unperturbed one in the party was Jake. He 
took things with philosophical calm. 

“Knew more trouble was cornin’,” said he, and 
contented himself by dismissing the situation 
with that. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


175 


“I've got good news for you,” said Jimsy, com- 
ing up ; “your car isn't hurt a bit.” 

“Oh, good !” cried the girl, clasping her hands 
and flushing. Her veil was raised now and they 
saw that she was very blonde, very pretty and 
just now very pale. 

“My, what a rambunctious ram!” punned Roy; 
“he ramified all over, didn't he?” 

“Gracious, for a time I thought I was seeing 
things!” gasped the girl, who was seated on a 
tufted hummock of grass at the side of the road. 

“And then you felt them,” laughed Jimsy. 
“That's the way such things run.” 

They all laughed. Soon after, Roy, Jimsy and 
Jake dragged the small runabout out of the ditch. 
In the meantime Peggy had introduced herself 
and Jess to the young girl. The latter’s name 
was Lavinia Nesbitt. She lived not far from 


176 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


the scene of the accident, and had been taking a 
jaunt in her machine. 

The runabout had been rescued, and the whole 
party introduced and talking merrily when Jess 
set up a cry. 

“Goodness! here comes that ram again !” 

Down the road, with the two sheep drivers at 
its heels, the beast was indeed coming. It ad- 
vanced at a hard gallop, with head lowered and 
formidable horns ready for a charge, into the 
midst of the group. 

“Look out for him!” yelled the sheep herders. 

They needed no second injunction. All skipped 
adroitly out of the path of the oncoming beast, 
which was rushing on like a whirlwind. Jimsy 
proved equal to the emergency. From his aero- 
plane he took the rope which had already done 
good service in rescuing the Golden Butterfly 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


177 


from the pond. He formed it into a loop — the 
lariat of the Western plains. 

“Now we’ve got him!” he exclaimed; “that is, 
if we are careful. But watch out !” 

“No danger of that,” responded Peggy, from 
the vantage of the tonneau of the car; “but how 
are you going to rope him ?” 

“Watch !” 

Jimsy began swinging his loop in ever widen- 
ing circles. The ram was now within a few feet 
of him. 

“Oh, the Dart!” shrieked Bess; “heTl go right 
through it!” 

Indeed it did appear as if the maddened animal 
would. But just as there are many slips between 
cup and lip so there are many slips between the 
ram and the aeroplane. 

Just as it appeared that he would plow his way 


178 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


right through the delicate fabric, Jimsy hurled 
his loop. It settled round the animal's horns. 
Planting his heels in the ground Jimsy held tight 
to the rope. The next minute he “snubbed” it 
tight and the ram lost its feet and rolled over 
and over in the dust. 

Jake and Roy rushed in and completed the job 
of tying the creature. 

“Goodness, Jimsy, you're a regular broncho 
buster !” cried Peggy admiringly. 

“Oh, I learned to do some tricks with a rope 
with the horse hunters out in Nevada,” was the 
response. 

But careless as his manner was, Jimsy's eyes 
glowed with triumph. It was plainly to be seen 
that he was delighted with his success. Just then 
the two sheep drivers came running up. 

The girls looked rather alarmed. Suppose 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


179 


they should blame them for trying to kidnap the 
ram. 

‘Til do the talking,” declared Roy; “if you 
said anything, Jimsy, there might be a row.” 

“All right,” laughed Jimsy, regarding his 
“roped and tied captive.” “I suppose you are an 
expert on dealing with ram owners.” 

“Well, Fm on to their mental ramifications,” 
laughed Roy. 

The sheep driver, an elderly man, accompanied 
by a youth, came up to them now. He touched 
his hat civilly as he approached. 

“Good afternoon. No one hurt, I hope,” he 
said. 

The girls looked greatly relieved. After all, 
the man was not rude or angry as they had 
feared. 

“Oh, no, thank you,” cried Jess, before Roy 


180 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


or Jimsy could open their mouths. “I hope he 
isn't though.” 

“Hurt!” exclaimed the ram's owner, “why you 
couldn't hurt him with a steam hammer. Why, 
day 'afore yesterday the blame thing went for 
my wife. Hoofs and horns — yes, sir! Most 
knocked her down, he did. I'll fix him.” 

“What's his name?” asked Bess. 

“Hannibal,” said the man, without the flicker 
of a facial muscle. 

“I should think Cannonball would be a better 
name for him,” struck in Jimsy, with that funny, 
serious face he always assumed when “joshing.” 

“Yes, sir, I guess it would be more appropriate 
at that, assented the man. 

He looked at the disabled machine. 

“Busted?” he asked with apparent concern. 

“To some extent,” rejoined Roy, “only, except 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


181 


for that engine hood being dented there doesn’t 
appear to be much the matter with it.” 

“Glad to pay if there be,” said the sheep driver. 
“I’m going ter git rid of ther pesky critter. He’s 
cost me a lot in damage suits already.” 

“Why don’t you put him on the stage as the 
boxing ram, or something like that?” inquired 
Jimsy. 

“Might be a good scheme,” said the man, as if 
considering the proposal seriously. 

“Mary had a little ram — ” laughed Jimsy; who 
was thereupon told not to be “horrid.” 

“Why don’t you box the nasty thing’s ears for 
riding in our car?” asked Roy of Peggy. 

“I’d like to do something, the saucy thing,” de- 
clared Peggy with vehemence. 

“Tell you what ! Let’s buy him.” 

The suggestion came from Jimsy. 


182 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Yes, and have his skin made up into an auto 
robe,” suggested Roy. 

“If you boys aren't ridiculous,” cried Peggy; 
“I want to forget the incident, and so I’m sure 
does Lavinia,” the name of the girl who had been 
spilled out of her machine. 

“You may be sure I do,” she declared with 
emphasis. “I was never so scared in my life.” 

“Want to buy him?” asked the man, grasping 
at a chance of selling an animal that had already 
placed him in some embarrassing positions. 

“How much do you want?” asked Roy, more 
as a joke than anything else. 

“Three dollars,” said the man. 

“There you are, girls! Who'll bid? Who'll 
bid? This fine young ram going at a sacrifice.” 

Jimsy imitated an auctioneer, raising his voice 
to a sharp pitch. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


183 


CHAPTER XVI. 

AN INVITATION TO RACE. 

It is almost needless to say that the purchase 
was not consummated. The girls raised a chorus 
of protest. The “nasty thing” was the mildest 
of the epithets they applied to the beast. 

“Well, I don't know. I thought we might have 
his skin done into a robe. We could give it as a 
prize to the girl that makes the best record on 
this motor flight,” suggested Jimsy. 

“I wish you'd take him up a thousand feet 
and drop him,” declared the unfortunate ram's 
owner. 

“Poor thing! he only acted according to his 
nature,” defended Peggy; “let him loose and he’ll 
go back to the flock.” 


184 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Not him,” declared his owner; “he’d only 
raise more Cain. Better let him be.” 

But the girls raised a chorus of protest. It 
was a shame to leave the poor thing tied up, and 
they insisted that he be let loose. 

“All right, if you kin stand it I kin,” grinned 
the man. 

He and the boy bent over the captive ram and 
cast him loose. The beast struggled to his feet, 
and for an instant stood glaring about him out of 
his yellowish eyes that gleamed like agates. But 
it was only for an instant that he remained thus. 

Suddenly he lowered his head and without 
more preliminaries dashed right at the Golden 
Butterfly. 

“Gracious, he’s a game old sport !” yelled 
Jimsy; “hasn’t had enough of it yet, eh?” 

Right at the Butterfly the ram rushed. Reach- 
ing it, with one bound he was in the chassis. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


185 


“Now weTl get him,” whispered the owner of 
the ram. “I told you if he was let go he'd start 
cutting up rough.” 

“Well, you surely proved a good prophet,” 
laughed Jimsy. 

“Now we've got to catch him,” said the man. 

“How?” whispered Jimsy. 

“Someone must lasso him as you did before. 
Easy now. Don't scare him or he might do 
damage.” 

The ram was seated in the aeroplane for all 
the world as if he was a scientific investigator of 
some sort. He paid no attention whatever to 
those who were creeping up on him, Jimsy with 
his rope in his hand, the loop trailing behind him 
all ready for action. 

“This is more fun than a deer hunt !” declared 


Roy. 


186 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Than a bull fight, you mean/’ retorted Jimsy; 
“this creature gives the best imitation of a wild 
bull I ever saw.” 

They all laughed. The ram certainly had 
given a realistic interpretation of a savage An- 
dalusian fighter. 

“Now then,” whispered the sheep driver as 
they drew near. Jimsy’s rope swirled and set- 
tled about the ram’s horns. But the startled beast 
was due to give them another surprise. Hardly 
had Jimsy’s rope fallen about it when with a 
snort it leaped clean in the air and out of the 
aeroplane. It tore like an express train straight 
at Jimsy. 

Before the boy could get out of its path “Biff !” 
the impact had come. Jimsy arose into the at- 
mosphere and described a distinct parabola. He 
landed with a bump in a clump of bushes, while 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


187 


Mr. Ram rushed off down the road to join his 
flock. 

“Haw! haw! haw!” roared the sheep man; 
“ain’t hurt, be you?” 

“No; but Fve a good mind to sue you for 
damages,” rejoined Jimsy, picking himself out of 
the clump of brush ; “you’ve no right to drive an 
animal like that around the country without label- 
ing him ‘Dynamite. Dangerous’.” 

“Guess I will, too,” said the man, who ap- 
peared to think well of the suggestion ; “he sure 
will get me in a pile of trouble one of these 
days.” 

He raised his hat and strode off, followed by 
the boy. In the distance the ram was capering 
about among the other sheep. Jimsy brushed the 
dust off himself and then looked about him. 

“Anybody laughing?” he demanded suspici- 
ously. 


188 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


They all shook their heads, the girls biting 
their lips to avoid smiling. 

“All right then, I suggest that we get out of 
here right away; a tiger’s liable to come striding 
out of those woods next.” 

“Yes; we’d better be getting along; Millbrook, 
our next stop, is several miles off,” said Peggy, 
consulting the map. 

No further time was lost in resuming their 
rapid flight. In the distance, as the flock of 
aeroplanes arose, the sheep man waved his hat 
and shouted his adieus. 

Millbrook was reached that evening just at 
dusk. It proved to be a fair-sized town, and the 
aeroplanes excited as much curiosity there as 
they had in Meadville — more so, in fact, for, 
from some flaring posters, it appeared that an 
aeroplane exhibition and race had been arranged 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


189 


for the next day by a traveling company of avi- 
ators. That evening, at the hotel, a deputation 
of citizens waited on the boys and asked them 
if they would not prolong their stay and take 
part in the air sports. The mayor, whose name 
was Jasper Hanks, mentioned a prize of five hun- 
dred dollars for an endurance flight as a special 
inducement. 

The lads said they would think things over and 
report in the morning. Their real object in de- 
laying their decision was, of course, to consult 
the girls about appearing. Peggy, Jess and Bess 
went into raptures over the idea, and Miss Pres- 
cott’s consent was readily obtained. 

‘Til be glad to rest for a day after all our ex- 
citing times,” she declared, “and I mean to add 
to W ren’s outfit too.” 

“Oh, how good you are to me,” sighed the odd 
little figure, nestling close to her benefactress. 


190 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Tush! tush, my dear! I’m going to make a 
wonderful girl out of you ,” beamed the kindly 
lady. 

Descending to the office to buy some postcards, 
the boys found, lounging about the desk, a stout- 
ish man with a rather dissipated face, puffy under 
the eyes and heavy about the jaws. A bright 
red necktie and patent-leather boots with cloth 
tops accentuated the decidedly “noisy” impres- 
sion he conveyed. 

As the boys came down he eyed them sharply. 
Then he addressed them. 

“My name's Lish Kelly,” he said. “Fm man- 
ager of the United Aviators' Exhibition Com- 
pany. We're showing out at the City Park to- 
morrow. I understand that you kids have been 
asked to butt in.” 

“We've been asked to participate, if that's 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


191 


what you mean,” rejoined Roy rather sharply. 
The fellow’s manner was offensive and over- 
bearing. 

“Well, see here, you stay out,” rejoined the 
man, shaking a fat forefinger on which glistened 
a diamond ring of such proportions as to make it 
dubious if it boasted a genuine stone. 

“You stay out of it,” he repeated. 

Roy and Jimsy were almost dumfounded. 
The man’s tone was one of actual command. 

“Why? Why should we stay out of it?” de- 
manded Roy. 

“The mayor of the town has asked us to take 
part,” came from Jimsy; “what have you got to 
do with it ?” 

“It’s this way,” said the man in rather a less 
overbearing way than he had hitherto adopted; 
“we’re going about the country giving flights. 


192 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


The city gives us the park in this town and we 
get so much of the receipts. But we rely on win- 
ning the prizes, see. Now if you kids butt in, 
why you might win some of them and that knocks 
my profit out. Get me?” 

“1 understand you, if that’s what you mean,” 
rejoined Roy; “but I still fail to see why we 
should not compete if we want to.” 

The man placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder 
impressively. 

“ ’Cos if you do it’ll make trouble for you, 
sonny.” 

“Who’ll make it?” flashed back Roy indig- 
nantly. 

“I will, son, and I’m some trouble maker when 
I start anything along them lines, take it from 
me. 

He turned on his heel, stuck his cigar at a 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


193 


more acute angle in the side of his mouth, and 
strode off, leaving the two boys dumfounded. 

“Well, what do you make of that?” demanded 
Roy, as soon as his astonishment had subsided a 
trifle. 

“Just this, that Mr. Lish Kelly thinks he can 
run this thing to suit himself.” 

“What will we do about it?” 

“For my part I wanted to compete before. I 
desire to more than ever now.” 

“Same here.” 

“Maybe he was only bluffing after all.” 

“Maybe; but just the same I wouldn’t trust 
him not to try to do us some harm. As he says, 
his main profits come from winning the prizes 
offered by the different communities.” 

“Humph ! well, so far as that goes, I don’t see 


why that need keep us out of it.” 


194 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Nor I ; but we’ve had troubles enough, and I 
don’t want willingly to run into any more.” 

“Nor I. Well, let’s sleep on it. We’ll decide 
in the morning.” 

“That’s a good idea.” 

The two lads went up to bed and slept as only 
healthy lads can. The next morning dawned 
bright and clear. There was hardly any wind. 
It was real “flying” weather. The aeroplanes 
had been sheltered in a big shed belonging to 
the hotel. Before breakfast the boys went out 
and looked them over. All were in good shape. 

As they were coming out of the shed they were 
hailed by no less a personage than Mayor Hanks. 

“Well,” said he, “are you going to fly?” 

“We think of doing so,” said Roy, hesitating 
a little. He wanted to speak of the conduct of 
Lish Kelly, but on second thought he decided not 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


195 


to; the man might merely have had a fit of bad 
temper on him. His threats might have been 
only empty ones. 

“If you’re going to fly I have got some entry 
blanks with me,” said the mayor. “1 wish you’d 
sign ’em.” 

He drew out a bunch of blue papers with 
blanks for describing the name of the machine, 
its power, driver and other details. 

This decided the boys. 

“All right, we’ll enter all our machines,” said 
Roy; “let us go into the writing room and we’ll 
sign the entry blanks.” 

“Good for you,” cried the mayor delightedly; 
“you’ll be a big drawing card, especially the 
young ladies. I never heard of gals flyin’, al- 
though, come to think of it, why shouldn’t they?” 

In the writing room they concluded the busi- 


19G 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


ness. When it was done all the machines had 
been entered in every contest, including an alti- 
tude one. 

“We start at ten sharp, so be there,” admon- 
ished the mayor as he departed, highly pleased at 
having secured quite a flock of young aviators at 
no cost at all. 

It was as his figure vanished, that Lish Kelly 
crossed the writing room. He had been sitting 
in a telephone booth, and leaving the door a crack 
open had heard every word that had passed. 

He greeted the boys with an angry scowl. 

“So you ain't going to stay out?” he said 
gruffly, as he passed. “All right; look out for 
squalls !” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


197 


CHAPTER XVII. 
the: twisted spark plug. 

“Gracious, are we in for more trouble?” 

Jimsy looked blankly at Roy ; but the latter only 
laughed at his chum’s serious face. 

Somehow, viewed in the bright light of early 
day, Lish Kelly’s threats did not appear nearly as 
formidable as they had over night. 

“Nonsense; what harm can he do us anyhow? 
We’re going to go into this race, and we’re going 
to win too. Just watch us.” 

“Going to tell the girls anything about Kelly 
and his remarks?” 

“No; what good would that do? It would 
only scare them.” 

“That’s so, too; but just the same I didn’t like 


198 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


the look of Kelly's face when he came through." 

“He looked to me like a bulldog that had swal- 
lowed a baby's boot and didn't like the taste of 
the blacking on it," laughed Roy. 

At this juncture the girls came into the room. 
All were radiant and smiling in anticipation of 
the day's sport. 

“Well, we've been and gone and done it," an- 
nounced Roy. 

“Done what?" demanded Peggy. 

“Signed the paperrr-r-r-s," was the rejoinder, 
rendered with great dramatic effect. 

He waved the duplicate entry blanks above his 
head. 

“Let's see them," begged Jess. 

“All right. Look what I've let us in for !" 

“Why — why — good gracious, Roy, you’ve got 
us down for everything," gasped Peggy. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


199 


“That's right, all the way across from soup to 
nuts," struck in the slangy Jimsy. 

They all laughed. The color rose in the girls' 
faces. 

“If only we can win some of them," cried Jess. 

“Well, the machines are all in fine shape. If 
we don't win it will be because the other fellows 
have better machines." 

“Where are the aviation grounds?" inquired 
Bess. 

“At the City Park, about a mile out of town to 
the south. W e can get to it by looking down at 
the trolley tracks," said Roy, who had consulted 
the mayor on this point. 

“Then you are going to fly out there?" asked 
Miss Prescott, who was also by this time a party 
to the conference. 

“Of course; and, by the way, we ought to be 


200 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


getting out there pretty soon ; I want to be look- 
ing over the grounds and selecting the best places 
for landing and so on/’ said Roy. 

“Well, please don’t get into any more scrapes,” 
sighed Miss Prescott; “what with gipsies, fire- 
bugs and rams, our trip has been quite exciting 
enough for me.” 

The boys exchanged glances. If the man Kelly 
tried to carry out his threats things might be 
more exciting yet, they thought. But both kept 
their knowledge to themselves. 

It was arranged that Miss Prescott should 
motor out to the City Park. Soon thereafter the 
young aviators placed finishing touches on their 
machines, and while a curious crowd gathered 
they took to the air. 

“Looks just like a flock of pigeons,” said a 
man in the crowd, as they climbed skyward quite 
closely bunched. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


201 


“It sure does,” agreed his companion, “but 
them things is prettier than any flock of pigeons 
I ever see.” 

And this opinion was echoed by many of the 
throng. At any rate everyone who saw the aero- 
planes start made up his or her mind to pay a 
visit to the park and see some more extended 
flights, so that Mayor Hanks’ prediction was 
verified. 

As the young aviators hovered above City 
Park for a short space of time, and then dropped 
earthward, a veritable sensation was created. 
From a row of “hangars” mechanicians and avi- 
ators came running. One or two aviators who 
were aloft practicing “stunts,” dropped swiftly 
to earth. Lish Kelly’s troupe was a large one, 
consisting of five men and one woman flyer, the 
wife of Carlos Le Roy, a Cuban aviator. 


202 


THE GIEL AVIATOES’ 


Outside the grounds several of the frugal in- 
dividuals who desired to see the flights without 
paying admission also watched as the quintette 
of strange aeroplanes dropped to earth. 

One by one the graceful craft of the air settled 
to the ground, and the young aviators alighted. 
Members of the Arrangement Committee hast- 
ened to their sides, shaking hands warmly and 
thanking them for their interest in the coming 
contests. 

The Kelly aviators gazed curiously, some of 
them resentfully, at the newcomers. They had 
all the professional's antipathy and jealousy of 
amateur performers. As the Arrangement Com- 
mittee bustled off after telling our friends to 
make themselves perfectly at home, Pepita Le 
Roy came up to them. She was a handsome 
woman, in a foreign way, with large, dark eyes 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


203 


and an abundance of raven black hair. She was 
rather flashily dressed and walked with a sort of 
swagger that in a vague way reminded Peggy of 
“Carmen.” 

“So you are zee girl aviators,” she remarked, 
as she came up. 

“Yes; I guess that’s what they call us,” re- 
joined Peggy; “we enjoy flying and have done a 
lot of it.” 

“So ! I have read your names in zee papers.” 

“Oh, those awful papers!” cried Jess, who 
hated publicity ; “they are always printing things 
about us.” 

“What! You do not like it?” 

“Oh, no! You see, we only fly for fun. Not 
as a business and ” 

Peggy stopped short. She felt she had com- 
mitted a grave breach of tactfulness. It was not 


204 


THE GIEL AVIATORS’ 


the thing, she felt, to boast to a professional 
woman flyer of their standing as amateurs. 

Nor was the Cuban woman slow to take um- 
brage at what she considered an insult. Her 
eyes flashed indignantly as she regarded the fair- 
haired, slender girl before her. 

“So you fly only for fun/’ she said vehemently; 
“very well, you have all zee fun you want before 
to-day is ovaire." 

Without another word she walked off, with the 
swinging walk of her race. 

The girls looked at each other with a sort of 
amused dismay. 

“Goodness, Peggy; you should be more care- 
ful/' cried Bess ; “you've hurt her feelings dread- 
fully." 

“I'm sure I didn’t mean to," declared Peggy 
remorsefully. “I — I had no idea that she would 
flare up like that." 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


205 


"Well, after all, it doesn't matter much/’ 
soothed Jess, pouring oil on the troubled waters, 
so to speak. “I'm glad the boys didn't hear it 
though." 

"So am I. See, they're busy on Roy's ma- 
chine," exclaimed Bess. 

"Yes; the lower left wing is rather warped," 
explained Peggy; "they are fixing it." 

"Wonder who that man is who is monkeying 
with the Red Dragon ?” said Peggy, the next in- 
stant. "I mean that horrid looking man in the 
check suit." 

"I don't know. See, he has a monkey wrench 
in his hand, too," exclaimed Bess. 

Almost simultaneously the boys looked round 
from their work on the biplane and saw the 
man. It was Lish Kelly. He was bending over 
the engine and doing something to it with his 
wrench. 


206 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


"Hey! What are you doing there ?” yelled 
Roy. 

"Just looking at your machine. No harm in 
that, is there ?” demanded Kelly, with a red face. 

"None at all, except that we don’t want our 
machines touched. How comes it you have that 
monkey wrench in your hands if you weren’t 
tampering with the machinery?” 

Jimsy spoke in a voice that fairly bubbled over 
with indignation. 

"Don’t get sore, kid ; I wouldn’t harm your old 
mowing machine. There isn’t one of mine but 
could beat it the fastest day it ever flew.” 

As he spoke Kelly slouched off. They saw 
him go up to a group of his aviators and begin 
talking earnestly to them. Once or twice he mo- 
tioned with his head in their direction. 

"So he does mean mischief, after all,” said 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


207 


Roy; “let’s take a good look at the Dragon's en- 
gine. He may have injured it, although I don’t 
think he’d have had time to hurt it seriously.” 

They strolled over to the Dragon, with the 
girls trailing behind. 

“Oh !” cried Peggy, as they came up, “look at 
that spark plug.” 

“What’s the matter with it?” demanded Jimsy. 

“Look, it’s all bent and twisted out of shape.” 

“Jove, sis, so it is. Your eyes are as sharp as 
they are pretty!” cried Roy. 

“No compliments, please. Oh, that horrid 
man !” 

“Who is he?” asked Jess. “You appeared to 
know him.” 

“Yes, we had some conversation with him this 
morning,” laughed Roy; “but to return to the 
spark plug; it’s a good thing we carry extra 


ones. 


208 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


"But we don't !" cried Jimsy, in a dismayed 
tone. 

"What! you had a supply in a locker on your 
machine." 

Jimsy looked confused. 

"I've got to make a confession," he said. 

"You didn't bring them!" cried Peggy. 

"No, the fact is I — I forgot." 

Jimsy looked miserably from one to the other. 
Here was a quandary indeed. It might prove 
hard to get such a commodity as a spark plug in 
Millbrook. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


209 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

IN search of a new pujg. 

It was while they were still discussing the sit- 
uation that the automobile with Jake at the wheel 
and Miss Prescott and The Wren in the tonneau, 
drove into the grounds. What a difference there 
was in the child since her benefactors had fitted 
her out ! She looked like a dainty, ethereal little 
princess instead of the ragged little waif that had 
been rescued from the gipsy camp. 

But the minds of our young friends were now 
intent on different matters. Time pressed. The 
altitude flight, in which Jimsy had planned to 
take part, was to be the first thing on the pro- 
gram. If anything was to be done about re- 
equipping the Dragon it must be done quickly. 


210 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Tell you what,” said Roy suddenly, “we'll get 
into the car and drive back to town. It won't 
take long and maybe we can dig up an extra one 
some place.” 

“If we don't I'm out of it for keeps,” groaned 
Jimsy; “oh, that Kelly. I'd like to punch his 
head.” 

He doubled up his fists aggressively; but, after 
all, what chance had he to prove that Kelly had 
actually damaged the plug. If confronted the 
man would have probably denied all knowledge 
of it. Nobody had actually seen him do it, so 
that positive proof was out of the question. No, 
they must repair the damage as best they could. 

But Roy determined to have the machines 
closely guarded. The situation was explained to 
Miss Prescott, and while she and her small pro- 
tege took seats in the grand stand Jake was de- 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


211 


tailed to guard the aeroplanes. This done, the 
boys got into the machine and prepared to start 
for town. But the girls interfered. 

“Aren’t you going to take us along, you impo- 
lite youths !” cried Bess. 

“Oh, certainly, your company is always charm- 
ing,” returned Jimsy, with a low bow. 

“Of course it is, but you wouldn’t have asked 
us to come if we had not invited ourselves,” de- 
clared Peggy vehemently. 

“How can you say so? Our lives would be a 
dry desert without the girl aviators to liven 
things up,” declared Jimsy. 

“Jimsy Bancroft, if you are going to get po- 
etical you’ll leave this car,” cried Jess. 

“That’s just it,” declared Jimsy, “girls can cry 
their eyes out over romantic heroes, but when 
a regular fellow starts to get 'mushy’ they go up 
in the air.” 


212 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


Amidst the chorus of protestations aroused by 
this ungallant speech Roy started the car. 
Swiftly it sped out of the grounds; but not so 
swiftly that the keen eyes of Lish Kelly did not 
see it. 

He called Herman Le Roy, the Cuban aviator, 
to him. 

“Le Roy, you are not in the altitude contest,” 
he said, “hop in my car with me and weTl fol- 
low those kids. They’re up to something.” 

The Cuban looked at him and smiled, showing 
two rows of white teeth under his small, dap- 
perly curled mustache. 

“I think, Senor Kelly, you have been up to 
something yourself.” 

“Well, you know what I told you. We want 
that five-hundred-dollar prize, Carlos, and by the 
looks of things if we don’t do something those 
kids are likely to get it.” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


213 


“They have fine machines,” agreed the other. 

“Yes; and they are equipped with a balancing 
device that makes them much more reliable than 
ours.” 

“A balancing device!” exclaimed the Cuban, 
as the two men got into the car, a small yellow 
runabout of racy appearance. 

“That's what I said, and it's a good one, too. 
I read an account of it in an aviation paper ; but 
the description was too sketchy for me to see how 
the thing was worked.” 

“Those boys must be wonders.” 

“I'm afraid they are. That's why we've got 
to be careful of them. But I've got a plan to fix 
them, the whole lot of them.” 

“What is it?” 

“I'll tell you as we go along.” 

As the car rolled past the group of aeroplanes 


214 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


with Jake faithfully standing guard over them, 
Kelly hailed him in a suave voice. 

“Any idea where the young folks have gone ?” 

Jake, who had no idea that Kelly had a sinister 
motive in asking the question, replied readily 
enough. 

“Yes, they’ve gone into Millbrook to get an- 
other spark plug. Something happened to one of 
the plugs of that red machine yonder.” 

“All right. Thanks.” 

Kelly drove on. 

“Do you know what happened to that plug, 
Carlos ?” he asked, as they reached the open road 
and bowled forward at a good speed. 

“I’ve got a pretty good guess. It was not al- 
together an accident, eh ?” 

“An accident, well, it was, in a sense. I hap- 
pened to be near that machine with a monkey 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


215 


wrench and in some way was careless enough to 
let it put that plug out of business." 

Both men laughed heartily, as if Kelly's ras- 
cally act had been the most amusing thing in the 
world. 

“You are a genius," declared Le Roy. 

“Well, I reckon I know a thing or two," was 
the modest response; “besides, I need that 
money." 

“But what is your plan?" 

“I'll tell you as we go along. Drive fast, but 
don't keep so close to that other car that they can 
get sight of us." 

“Not much fear of that. They had a long 
start of us and are out of sight now." 

“So much the better. It doesn't interfere with 
my plans a bit, provided they take the same road 
back." 


216 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ - 


“What do you mean to do ?" 

“Are you good with a shovel ?" was the cryptic 
reply. 

“I don't understand you, I must say." 

“You will later on. We'll drive up to that 
farmhouse yonder." 

“Yes, and what then?" 

“We'll borrow two shovels." 

“Two shovels!" 

“That's what I said." 

“But what on earth have two shovels to do 
with stopping a bunch of kids from entering in 
an aeroplane race?" 

“Carlos, your brain is dull to-day." 

“It would take a wizard to understand what 
you intend to do." 

“Well, you will see later on. Drive in this 
gate. That's it, and now for the shovels." 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


217 


CHAPTER XIX. 

THE TRAP. 

For more than half an hour eager inquiries 
were made in Millbrook for a spark plug such as 
they wanted. But all their search was to no 
avail. But suddenly, just as they were about to 
give up in despair, a man, of whom they had 
made inquiries, recalled that not far out of town 
there was a small garage. 

“We’ll try there,” determined Jimsy. 

Finding out the road, they speeded to the place. 
It did not look very promising, a small, badly 
fitted up auto station, run by an elderly man 
with red-rimmed, watery eyes, looking out from 
behind a pair of horn spectacles that somehow 
gave him the odd look of a frog. 


218 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Got any spark plugs ?” asked Jimsy, as the 
machine came to a halt. 

“Yes, all kinds,” said the man, in a wheezy, 
asthmatic voice that sounded like the exhaust 
of a dying-down engine. 

“Good!” cried Jimsy, hopping out of the car. 

“That is, we will have all kinds next week,” 
went on the man; “I’ve ordered 'em.” 

“Goodness, then you haven’t any right now?” 

“I’ve got a few. Possibly you might find what 
you want among them.” 

“I’ll try, anyway,” declared Jimsy. 

The man led the way into a dingy sort of shed. 
On a shelf in a dusty corner was a box. 

“You can hunt through that,” said the man 
wearily; “if you find what you want wake me 
up.” 

“Wake you up?” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


219 


“Yes, I always take a sleep at this time of day. 
You woke me up when you came in. Now Fm 
going to doze off again.” 

So saying he sank into a chair, closed his eyes 
and presently was snoring. 

“Dead to the world !” gasped Jimsy; “well, 
that's the quickest thing in the sleep line I ever 
saw!” 

As it was no use to waste further time the boy 
began rummaging in the box. It contained all 
sorts of odds and ends, among them several 
plugs. 

“I'll bet there isn't one here that will fit my en- 
gine!” grumbled Jimsy; “I don't — what! Yes! 
By Jiminy! Eureka! Hurray, I've found one!” 

The man woke up with a start. 

“What's the matter ?” he demanded drowsily. 

“Nothing! That is, everything!” cried Jimsy. 


“I've found just what I want.” 


220 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“All right. Leave the money on that shelf 
there. It’s a dollar/' 

So saying, off he went to sleep again, while 
Jimsy, overjoyed, hastily peeled a dollar from his 
“roll” and departed. The last sound he heard 
was the steady snoring of the garage man. 

“Well, there's one fellow that money can’t 
keep awake, even if it does talk,” said Jimsy 
laughingly to himself as, with a cry of triumph, 
he rejoined the party, waving the plug like a 
banner or an emblem of victory. 

No time was lost in starting the auto up again 
and they whirled back through Millbrook in a 
cloud of dust. Passing through the village they 
retraced their way along the road by which they 
had come. 

“Just half an hour before that altitude flight,” 
remarked Jimsy to Roy, who was driving, as 
they sped through the town. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


221 


“Fine; we’ll make it all right,” was the re- 
joinder. Roy turned on more power and the 
auto shot ahead like some scared wild thing. 

“We’ll only hit the high spots this trip,” de- 
clared Roy, as the machine plunged and rolled 
along at top speed. 

All at once, as they turned a corner, they re- 
ceived a sudden check. Right ahead of them a 
man was driving some cows. Roy jammed down 
the emergency brake, causing them all to hold 
on for dear life to avoid being pitched out by 
the sudden change of speed. 

“Wow! what a jolt!” exclaimed Jimsy; “it 
sure did ” 

The sentence was never completed. The auto 
gave a pitch sideways and then plunged into a pit 
that had been dug across the road and covered 
with leaves and dust placed on a framework of 


222 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


branches. Down into this pit crashed the ma- 
chine with a sickening jolt. The girls screamed 
aloud in fear. It appeared as if the machine 
would be a total wreck. 

But that was not the worst of it. In the sud- 
den fall into the pit Roy had been pitched out and 
now lay quite still at the roadside. Jimsy had 
saved himself from being thrown by clutching 
tight hold of the seat. 

He stopped the engine and then clambering out 
of the car hastened to Roy’s side. To his de- 
light, just as he reached him, Roy sat up, and 
although his face was drawn with pain he de- 
clared that his injuries consisted of nothing more 
serious than a sprained ankle. 

“But look at the machine!” cried Jimsy; “it’s 
smashed, I’m sure of it.” 

The pit which had been dug across the road 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


223 


was about three feet deep and the front wheels 
of the auto rested in it. The hind wheels had 
not entered, as the excavation was not a wide 
one. 

Both boys hastened to examine the car. To 
their satisfaction they found that not much dam- 
age had been done beyond a slight wrenching of 
the steering gear. This was due to the fact that 
they had been going at reduced speed. 

“Gracious ! Suppose we had been coming 
along at the same pace we’d been hitting up 
right along,” exclaimed Jimsy. 

“We wouldn’t be here now,” declared Roy; 
“we’d be in the next county or thereabouts.” 

“Yes, we’d have kept right on going,” agreed 
Jimsy; “talk about flying! But, say, who can 
have done this?” 

“Not much doubt in my mind it’s the work of 


224 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


that outfit of Kelly’s. He told us to look out for 
trouble, and he appears to be making it for us.” 

“The precious rascal ; he might have broken all 
our necks.” 

“That’s true, if we’d been hitting up high 
speed.” 

“How are we going to get out of this?” 

Peggy asked the question just as the man who 
had been driving the cattle came running up. 

“What’s the trouble?” he asked, gazing at the 
odd scene. 

“You can see for yourself,” rejoined Roy; 
“some rascals dug a trench across the road so as 
to wreck our machine if possible.” 

“Humph ! So I see,” was the rejoinder ; “how 
be you goin’ ter git out of thar ?” 

“That’s a problem. If we could get a team of 
horses ” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


225 


The man interrupted Roy, who was acting as 
spokesman. 

“Tell you what, two of my cattle back thar are 
plow oxen. IT1 go back to ther farm, git their 
yokes on ’em and yank you out of here. That is 
pervidin’ you pay me, uv course.” 

“Don’t worry about that. We’re willing to 
pay anything in reason.” 

“All right, then, I’ll hook up Jeb and Jewel.” 

The man walked back toward his cattle, which 
were contentedly browsing at the side of the 
road. Clucking in an odd manner, he drove two 
of them out of the herd and started back toward 
a farmhouse which was not far distant. In a 
wonderfully short time he was back with his 
oxen in harness. 

“Gee, Jeb! Haw, Jewel!” he cried, as he came 
up. The oxen swung round and the heavy chain 


226 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


attached to their yoke was hitched to the front 
axle of the car. 

“Now for it!” cried Roy, when this had been 
done. 

“Git ap!” shouted the man. 

The slow but powerful oxen strained their 
muscular backs. The chain tightened and the 
next moment the car, from which Peggy and Jess 
and Bess had alighted, rose from the pit. Then 
the hind wheels dropped into it with a bump, but 
the shock absorbers prevented serious damage. 
With the oxen straining and pulling it was finally 
hauled into the road and they were ready to re- 
sume the trip. 

Roy rewarded their helper with a substantial 
bill, and they were all warm in their thanks. 

“ ’Twasn’t nuthin’,” declared the man, “an’ 
now I guess Pll go to ther house and have my 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


227 


hired man fill in this road. Things is come to a 
fine pass when such things kin happen.” 

As the rescued party sped on toward the avia- 
tion field they fully agreed with the rustic’s opin- 
ion. Had it not been for sheer luck they would 
have suffered extremely serious consequences as 
the result of a rascal’s device. But as it was 
Kelly’s plot against them appeared to have failed. 


























































V 






CHAPTER XX. 


AN ATTACK IN THE) AIR. 

“B-o-o-m !” 

The sound of a gun crashed out as the auto 
sped through the gates of the aviation field and 
rapidly skimmed across to where the aeroplanes 
had been parked. 

“Just in timer cried Peggy; “that’s the five- 
minute warning gun.” 

By this time the grandstand was well filled 
and a band was playing lively airs. At the start- 
ing line three of the Kelly aeroplanes were gath- 
ered ready for the signal for the start of the al- 
titude flight. The instant the car came to a 
standstill Jimsy was out and in a jiffy had the 


229 


230 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


new spark plug adjusted. There was no time to 
test it, but he felt pretty confident that it would 
work all right. 

“All ready !” shouted the official in charge of 
the starting arrangements. 

“Ready !” rejoined Jimsy heartily, as he ad- 
justed his leather helmet and Jake and Roy 
started the engine. 

Kelly, whose back had been turned while he 
talked to some of his troup, faced round at the 
sound of the boy’s voice. 

“What, you here!” he choked out, his face 
purple. 

“Yes ; do you know any reason why I shouldn’t 
be?” asked Jimsy, with meaning emphasis. 

Under the lad’s direct gaze Kelly’s eyes fell. 
He couldn’t face the lad, but turned away. 

“There, if that isn’t proof of his guilt I’d like 
to know what is,” declared Jimsy to Roy. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


231 


“But the rascal covered up his tracks so clev- 
erly that we can't prove anything- on him,” mut- 
tered Roy disgustedly. 

At the same instant the starting bomb boomed 
out. The crowd yelled, and the drummer of the 
band pounded his instrument furiously. Above 
the uproar sounded the sharp, crackerlike report 
of the motors. As more power was applied they 
roared like batteries of Gatling guns. 

Into the air shot one of them, a black biplane. 
It was followed by the others, two monoplanes 
and a triplane. Jimsy ascended last, but as this 
was not a race, but a cloud-climbing contest, he 
was in no hurry. He was anxious to see what 
the other air craft could do. 

Up they climbed, ascending the aerial stairway, 
while the crowd below stared up, at the risk of 
stiff necks in the immediate future. 


232 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


Jimsy chose spiraling as his method of rising. 
But the others went upward in curious zigzags. 
This was because their machines were not 
equipped with the stability device, and they could 
not attempt the same tactics. Before long Jimsy 
was high above the others. From below he ap- 
peared a mere dot in the blue. But still he 
flew on. 

Once he glanced at his barograph. It showed 
he had ascended 5,000 feet. It was higher than 
the boy had ever been before, but he kept per- 
severingly on. 

It was cold up there in the regions of the upper 
air, and Jimsy found himself wishing he had put 
on a sweater. 

"It’s too long a drop to go down and get one,” 
he remarked to himself, with grim humor. 

Beneath him he could see the other aeroplanes ; 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


233 


but the black one was the only one that appeared 
to be a serious rival. The rest did not seem to 
be trying very hard to reach a superlative height. 
The black machine, however, was steadily rising. 
After a while Jimsy could see the face of its oc- 
cupant. It was the Cuban, Le Roy. 

“Now, what's he trying to do, 1 wonder?" 
thought Jimsy, as the black biplane rose to the 
same level as himself and appeared to be going 
through some odd maneuvering. 

“That's mighty funny," mused the boy, watch- 
ing his rival ; “I can't make out what he's up to.'’ 

Indeed the black biplane was behaving queerly. 
Now it would swoop toward Jimsy and then 
would dart, only to return. Suddenly it came 
driving straight at him. 

It was then that Jimsy suddenly realized what 
his rival was trying to do. To use a slangy but 


234 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


expressive phrase, Le Roy, the veteran aviator, 
was trying to rattle the boy. 

“So that’s his game, is it,” thought Jimsy; 
“well, I’ll give him a surprise.” 

Manipulating his spark and gas levers the boy 
gave his graceful red craft full power. The 
Dragon shot sharply upward, crossing Le Roy’s 
machine about twenty feet above its upper plane. 
Jimsy laughed aloud at the astonished expression 
on the man’s face as he skimmed above him. 

“I reckon he’ll think that I do know something 
about driving an aeroplane, after all,” he chuc- 
kled as he rose till his barograph recorded 6,000 
feet. 

Beneath him he could see Le Roy starting to 
descend. Something appeared to be wrong with 
the black biplane’s motor. It acted sluggishly. 

“Well, as he’s going down I guess I will, too,” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


235 


said Jimsy to himself ; “6,000 feet is by no means 
a record, but it’s high enough for me/’ 

Suddenly he was plunged into what appeared 
to be a wet and chilly fog. In reality it was a 
cloud that had drifted in on him. It grew sud- 
denly cold with an almost frosty chill. The mois- 
ture of the cloud drenched him to the skin. The 
lad shivered and his teeth chattered, but he kept 
pluckily to his task. 

Before long he emerged into the sunlight once 
more. The crowd which had thrilled when the 
young aviator vanished into the vapor set up a 
yell when he reappeared. But at the height he 
was Jimsy, of course, did not hear it. 

But as he dropped lower the shouts and cheers 
became plainly audible. The lad waved his hand 
in acknowledgment. Then, as he neared the 
ground, he put his machine through a series of 
graceful evolutions that set the crowd wild. 


236 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“The altitude flight is won by Number Four,” 
announced the officials after they had examined 
the barograph; “with a height of 6,000 feet. 
Number Four is Mr. James Bancroft.” 

“Gee; that sounds real dignified,” laughed 
Jimsy; “it’s a treat to be treated with becoming 
dignity once in a while.” 

The next flight was a race six times round the 
course. This was won by one of the Kelly flyers. 
Then came an endurance contest which Roy cap- 
tured handily and some exhibition flying in which 
Bess did some clever work and was delighted to 
find herself a winner. 

It was soon after this that the gun was fired 
as a note of warning that the big race was about 
to begin. 

Peggy’s Golden Butterfly and Roy’s entry, the 
Red Dragon , borrowed for this race because the 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


237 


biplane was too heavy and clumsy for such fast 
work, were wheeled to the starting line. Already 
three of Kelly’s machines were there, among 
them being that of Senora Le Roy, or, as she was 
billed, the Cuban Skylark, the Only Woman 
Flyer in the World. It appeared now that she 
had small claim to the title. The crowd set up a 
cheer for her as she took her seat in a neat-look- 
ing monoplane of the Bleriot type. 

But when Peggy’s dapper figure, smartly at- 
tired in her aviation costume, appeared a still 
louder shout went up. 

Kelly scowled blackly. He stepped up to his 
flyers. 

“You’ve got to win this race or get fired,” he 


snarled. 





CHAPTER XXI. 

Peggy’s splendid race. 

“They’re off!” 

“Hurrah!” 

“There they go !” 

These and hundreds of other cries and excla- 
mations followed the report of the starting gun. 
The Cuban woman flyer was off first, then came 
two other of the professional flyers, while Roy 
and Peggy got away last. 

The race was to be sixty miles out to a small 
body of water called Lake Loon and return. A 
trolley line ran past the aviation grounds and out 
to the lake. For the guidance of the flyers a car 
with a huge American flag flying from it blazed 
a trail below them, as it were. 


239 


240 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


Roy's craft gained a slight lead on the Golden 
Butterfly and two of the Kelly flyers were soon 
passed by both the boy and his sister. But the 
professional woman flyer still maintained her 
lead. Second came another of Lish Kelly's avi- 
ators in a blue machine. This was Ben Speed- 
well, who enjoyed quite a reputation as a skillful 
and daring air driver. 

The flyers had all struck a level about 1,500 
feet in the air. There was a light head wind, but 
not enough to deter any of the powerfully en- 
gined craft. Glancing back for an instant Roy 
saw one of the contesting aviators dropping to 
earth. His companion soon followed. 

“Overheated engines probably," thought the 
boy; “I must be careful the same thing doesn't 
happen to me going at this pace." 

Suddenly another aeroplane loomed up beside 
him. It was the Golden Butterfly. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


241 


“Good for you, sis !” cried Roy, as Peggy, wav- 
ing her hand, roared past. In another minute 
she had shot past Speedwell, but the leader, the 
woman flyer, was still some distance ahead, and 
appeared to steadily maintain the lead she had. 

At last Lake Loon came into view. It was a 
more or less shallow body of water with a small 
island in the middle of it. As they neared it 
Speedwell and Roy were flying almost abreast, 
with Speedwell just a shade in the lead. 

Suddenly Speedwell made a spurt and shot 
ahead of the Dragon. At a distance of half a 
mile from Roy, who was now last, Speedwell was 
above the lake. 

Peggy and the woman flyer had already turned 
and were on their way back, with the latter still 
in the lead. Roy was watching Speedwell in- 
tently. 


242 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


He saw the man bank his machine to take the 
curve in order to round the lake. An appalling 
climax followed. 

“He's turned too sharp. He'll never make it," 
exclaimed Roy, holding his breath. 

The aeroplane swayed madly. Then began a 
fierce fight on Speedwell's part to settle it on an 
even keel. But skillful as he was he could not 
master the overbalanced machine. 

“He is lost !" breathed Roy, every nerve athrill. 

And then the next minute: 

“Cracky ! He's got it. No, he's falling again 
—ah!" 

There was a note of horror in the exclamation. 
The aeroplane in front of Roy dived wildly, then 
fairly somersaulted. The strain was too great. 
A wing parted. 

“It's the end of him!" exclaimed Roy, in a 
whisper. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


243 


Down shot the broken aeroplane with the ve- ' 
locity of lightning. It just dodged the trees on 
the little island and then it plunged into the lake, 
first spilling Speedwell out. Then down on top 
of him came the smother of canvas, wood and 
wires. 

“He’ll be suffocated if I don’t go to his res- 
cue,” murmured Roy; “it will put me out of the 
race, but I must save him.” 

There was a clear spot on the island, and to- 
ward this the boy dived. In the meantime men 
were putting out from shore in a small boat. 
But the boy knew that they could not reach the 
unfortunate Speedwell in time to save his life. 

Roy made a clever landing on the island and 
then lost no time in wading out to the half float- 
ing, half submerged wreckage. In the midst of 
it lay Speedwell. Roy dragged him ashore. The 


244 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


man's face was purple, his limbs limp and lifeless 
and he choked gaspingly. Another minute in the 
water would have been his last, as Roy realized. 

He did what he could for the man, rolling him 
on his face to get out the water he had swal- 
lowed. By this time the boat from the shore 
landed on the island. The two men got out. 

“Is he alive?" they asked of Roy. 

“Yes, and he'll get better, too, I guess. Lucky 
he fell in the water. No limbs are broken." 

“Well, you're a pretty decent sort of fellow to 
get out of the race to help an injured man," said 
one of the men. 

“Well, I'll leave him to you now," rejoined 
Roy; “is there a hospital near here?" 

“There's one 'bout a mile away. We can 
phone for an ambulance." 


“Good! Well, good-bye." 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


245 


With a whirr and a buzz the boy was gone, 
and speedily became a speck in the sky. 

In the meantime the aviation field was in an 
uproar. Dashing toward it had come the two 
leading aeroplanes. From dots in the sky no 
bigger than shoe buttons they speedily became 
manifest as two aeroplanes aquiver with speed. 
Blue smoke poured from their exhausts. Evi- 
dently the two aviators were straining their craft 
to the utmost. 

"It's that Cuban woman and the young girl 
flyer !” yelled a man who had a pair of field 
glasses. 

The uproar redoubled. The two aeroplanes 
were almost side by side as they rushed onward. 
Which would win the $500 race? 

It was a struggle that had begun some miles 
back. After leaving the lake Peggy, who had 


246 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


held some speed in reserve while her opponent 
had keyed her machine to its top pitch, had 
gradually gained on her. But still there was a 
gap between the two aeroplanes. 

On the return trip no car blazed the way. The 
speed was too great for that. For this reason 
smudges, or smoky fires, had been lighted to 
guide the flyers. At a place where it was neces- 
sary to make a slight turn Peggy made the gain 
that brought her almost alongside her competi- 
tor. In making the turn the monoplane flown 
by the Cuban aviatrix could not negotiate it at 
as sharp an angle as Peggy's machine, owing to 
its not being equipped with an equalizing, or sta- 
bility device. 

Now it was that Peggy tensioned up the 
Golden Butterfly to its full power. The engine 
fairly roared as the propeller blurred round. The 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


247 


whole fabric trembled under the strain. It 
seemed as if nothing made by man could stand 
the pressure. 

But the Golden Butterfly had been built by 
one of the foremost young aviators in the coun- 
try, and it was sound and true in every part. 
Peggy felt no fear of anything giving out under 
the strain. 

And now the aviation park appeared in the 
distance. Peggy headed straight for it, hoping 
devoutly that her motor would not heat up and 
jam under the terrific speed it was being forced 
to. 

The Cuban woman glanced round anxiously. 
It was a bad move for her. Like a flash the 
Golden Butterfly shot by the other machine as 
the latter wobbled badly. 

Peggy ,s delight was mixed with apprehension. 


248 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


The motor was beginning to smoke. Plainly it 
was heating up. 

“Will it last five minutes longer ?” 

That was the thought in Peggy’s mind. The 
Golden Butterfly was hardly an airship any 
longer. It was a thunderbolt — a flying arrow. 
Before Peggy’s eyes there was nothing now but 
the tall red and white “pylon” that marked the 
winning post. Could she make it ahead of her 
rival? Close behind her she could hear the roar 
of the other motor, but she did not dare to look 
round for fear of losing ground. 

Swiftly she mentally selected the spot where 
she would land, and then down shot the Golden 
Butterfly like a pouncing fish hawk. The speed 
of the descent fairly took Peggy’s breath away. 
Her cap had come off and her golden hair 
streamed out in the breeze wildly. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


249 


There was a blur of flying trees, then came the 
grandstand, a mere smudge of color, a sea of 
dimly seen faces and a roar that was like that of 
a hundred waterfalls. 

Down shot the Golden Butterfly just inside 
the “pylon.” It ran for about a hundred yards 
and was then brought to a stop. 

Peggy Prescott had won the great race. 





















CHAPTER XXII. 
peggy's generosity. 

“Oh, Peggy, it's the proudest moment of my 
life!" cried Jimsy, as a shouting, excited crowd 
surrounded the aeroplane in which Peggy still 
sat, feeling dazed and a little dizzy. 

“Oh, you wonderful girl !” cried out Bess, half 
laughing and half crying; “gracious, what an ex- 
citing finish. I thought /I'd go wild when it 
looked as if you weren't going to win." 

They helped her from the aeroplane while po- 
licemen pushed the crowd back. Somebody 
brought a tray with steaming hot tea and crack- 
ers on it. But Peggy could not eat. She felt 
faint and dreamy. 


251 


252 


THE GIRL AVIATORS 3 


"Brace up !” urged Jimsy. 

"I'll be all right in a minute. It’s the strain of 
those last few minutes. I never thought I’d 
win.” 

"And I never doubted it,” declared Jess stoutly. 

"I wonder where Roy is?” asked Peggy anx- 
iously, as they entered a box in the grandstand 
where they could be secluded from the shoving, 
curious, staring crowd. 

"Don’t know; but he’s all right, depend upon 
it,” said Jimsy cheerfully; "hello, what’s that 
coming now?” 

"It’s a homing aeroplane.” 

Then, a minute later : 

"It’s Roy. Look at him come. I didn’t think 
the Red Dragon could go as fast.” 

Roy it was, sure enough. He was coming at 
a pace that might have landed him as winner of 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


253 


the race if he had not been delayed by his errand 
of mercy. 

Ten minutes later he had joined them. First 
he explained what had happened to the judges 
of the course. Kelly, crest-fallen and wretched- 
looking, thanked him half heartedly for what he 
had done and said that he would care for Speed- 
well till he got better, which, by the way, was a 
promise that he did not perform. 

A sudden stir in the crowd caused the little 
party in the box to look up. 

A man was hastily chalking up some legend on 
the big black bulletin board. It ran thus : 

Long-distance Race for $500 prize. 

Star of Flight — 11 :oi :2. 

Finish of Flight — 12:02:0. 

Maximum Height — 1,500 feet. 


254 


THE GIRL AVIATORS* 


Wind Velocity — io miles from southeast 

Winner — Golden Butterfly. 

Winning Aviator — Miss Margaret Prescott. 

What a cheer went up then. It seemed as if 
the roof would be raised off the grandstand 
by it. 

“It’s like a dream !” sighed Peggy, “just like 
a dream.” 

“Now, don’t get fainty, Peggy, or Miss Mar- 
garet Prescott,” admonished Jess; “as Jimsy 
says, 'brace up,’ the best is yet to come.” 

A man came up to where they were sitting. 
In his hand he had a slip of pink paper. 

Roy reached out for it, but the man said that 
he had instructions to hand it only to Peggy. 

“It’s the check for the prize-winning money,” 
he explained. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


255 


Peggy took it and sat gazing at it for a min- 
ute. 

“Oh, Peggy, what are you going to do with 
it?” asked Bess. “Buy some dresses or hats 


“None of those things,” said Peggy; “I made 
up my mind before I went into the race as to 
what I would do with the money if I won.” 

“And what’s that?” asked Miss Prescott. 

“Why, it must go toward The Wren’s educa- 
tion,” rejoined the girl. 

“Oh, Peggy, you darling!” cried Jess, flinging 
her arms round her chum, in full view of the 
grandstand and the crowd below. 

As for The Wren, she gazed up at the girl with 
wide-open brown eyes. 

“You are too good to me — too good,” she said 
simply; but there was a plaintive quiver in her 


voice. 


256 


THE GIRL AVIATORS 2 


Mr. James Parker sat on the porch of his 
home, in the foothills of the Big Smokies, gazing 
out over the landscape. Seemingly he was 
watching for something. 

“He done watch de sky lak he ’spected de bot- 
tom drap clean out uv it pretty soon,” said Uncle 
Jupe, his factotum, to his wife Mandy. 

“ ’Gwan, you fool nigger, don' you know dat 
dem flying boys an' gals is to be hayr ter-day?” 

“Oh, dat’s jes a joke, dat is,” rejoined Uncle 
Jupe; “how’s they all goin’ ter fly ah’d lak to 
know.” 

“I don’ know, but dat’s what Marse Parker 
says.” 

“Den he’s been grocersly imposed upon by 
somebody. Ain’t likely dat ef de Lawd had 
meant us ter fly he’d have give us wings, wouldn’t 
he?” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


257 


“Go 'long, now. Don' flossyfying roun’ hyar. 
You git out an* hoe dat cohn. Look libely, now. 
You git it done fo’ dinner or dere'll be trouble." 

Uncle Jupe shuffled out of the kitchen, but in 
a minute he came rushing back. 

“Wha* de matter?" demanded his wife, notic- 
ing his wildly staring eyes and open mouth ; “you 
gone fool crazy?" 

“M-m-m-m-mandy, it's true! It's true!" 
gasped Uncle Jupe. 

“Wha's true, — dat you all's crazy?" 

“Yes — no, it’s 'bout dem flyin’ things. Dey's 
cornin'. Come and look wid your own eyes." 

Mandy shuffled out. There, sure enough, 
coming toward them, was a flock of what at first 
sight appeared to be immense birds. But it was 
the young sky cruisers nearing their destination. 

On the porch Mr. Parker stood up and waved 


258 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


his newspaper. Ten minutes later the aeroplanes 
came to earth in the smooth front lawn, while 
Uncle Jupe restrained a strong inclination to run 
away. 

“Dey ain’t canny, dem things,” he declared; 
“ef de Lord had wanted us to fly he’d have given 
us wings, I guess. 

“Yes, sir, he’d sure have given us wings des 
de same as angels hev,” he repeated musingly. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


259 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE MOONSHINERS AND THE AEROPLANE. 

“This is a beautiful country, sis.” 

“Yes, indeed,” agreed Peggy warmly. 

The two were flying high above the romantic 
scenery of the Big Smoke Mountains of North 
Carolina in the Golden Butterfly. Beneath them 
lay a wild-looking expanse of country, — peaks, 
deep canons and cliffs heavily wooded and here 
and there bare patches cropping out. 

“Let’s drop down on one of those patches and 
do some exploring,” suggested Peggy. 

“All right,” agreed Roy, nothing loath. The 
Golden Butterfly was headed downward. 

In a few minutes they landed on a smooth spot 
surrounded by trees. Leaving the aeroplane, 


260 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


they struck off on a path through the woods. 
“ Wonder if we can’t find some huckleberries 
hereabouts/’ suggested Roy. 

“Oh, yes, lots. Wouldn’t it be dandy to take 
home a bucketful by aeroplane!” 

“There’s a little hut off yonder, maybe we could 
get a bucket or something there.” 

“Let’s see if there are any berries first,” said 
the practical Peggy. 

From out of the hut shuffled an old woman. 
She was a wrinkled and hideous old hag, brown 
as a seasoned meerschaum pipe and in her mouth 
was a reeking corn cob. 

Her feet were bare, and altogether she was a 
most repulsive old crone. She saw Roy and 
Peggy almost as soon as they saw her. For an 
instant she stood looking at them and then raised 
her voice in a sort of shrill shriek. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


261 


Instantly from the woods around several men 
appeared — wild-looking, bearded fellows, each 
of whom carried a rifle. 

“What you alls want hyar?” demanded one 
who seemed to be the leader. 

“We were just taking a walk,” explained Roy. 

“Wa’al, we all don’t like strangers particlar.” 

“So it would seem,” rejoined Roy, with a bold 
voice, although his heart was beating rather fast. 

“How’d you alls get hyar ?” was the next ques- 
tion from the inquisitor. 

“We flew here,” rejoined Roy truthfully. 

But the man’s face grew black with wrath. 

“Don’ you alls lie to me; it ain’t healthy,” he 
said. 

“I’m not in the habit of doing so.” 

“But you said you flew hyar.” 

“Well, we did.” 


262 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“See hyar, young stranger, you jes’ tell me the 
truth ’bout how you came or by the eternal I’ll 
make it hot fer you.” 

“I can only show you that I’m speaking noth- 
ing but the truth,” rejoined the boy; “if you’ll 
come with me I’ll show you what we flew here 
in.” 

The man glanced at him suspiciously. It was 
plain that he feared a trap of some sort. His 
eyes were wild and shifty as a wolf’s. 

“Ain’t you frum the guv-ment?” he asked. 

“I don’t know just what you mean.” 

“I reckin that’s jus’ more dum’ lyin’.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Don’ get sassy, young feller, it won’t do you 
no good. But I’ll come with you. Come on, 
boys, we’ll take a look at this flyin’ thing. I 
reckon that even if it is a trap there’s enough of 
us to take care of a pack of them.” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


263 


“That’s right, Jeb,” agreed the men. 

Some of them, who had been hanging back in 
the bushes, now came forward. They were all 
as wild-looking as their leader, Jeb. The old 
woman mumbled and talked to herself as they 
strode off behind Roy and Peggy. 

It was one of the strangest adventures of their 
lives and neither one of them could hit on any 
explanation of the hillmen’s conduct. 

It did not take long to reach the aeroplane, 
and Roy turned triumphantly to Jeb. 

“Well,” he said, “what do you think now?” 

“Wa’al, it ain’t flyin’, is it?” 

“Of course not, but I can make it.” 

“You kin?” 

“Certainly.” 

“Flap its wings and all that like a burd?” 

“No, it doesn’t flap its wings.” 


264 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Then how kin it fly?” propounded Jeb. 

A murmur of approval ran through the throng. 
Jet/s logic appealed to their primitive intellects. 

“Nothing can’t fly that don’t flap its wings,” 
said one of them. 

“But if it didn’t fly, how in tarnation did it 
git here?” asked an old man with a grizzled 
beard and blackened stumps of teeth projecting 
from shrunken gums. 

This appeared to be a poser for even Jeb. He 
had nothing to say. 

“If you like I’ll give you a ride in it,” proffered 
Roy to Jeb. 

“All right ; only no monkey tricks now.” 

“What do you mean ?” 

“Wa’al, in course I know it won’t fly, but if it 
does you’ll hev to let me out.” 

With this sage remark Jeb stepped gingerly 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


265 


into the chassis of the aeroplane. He sat down 
where he was told and Roy took the wheel. Jeb’s 
companions gazed on in awed silence. 

“Look out, Jeb,” cried one. 

“Don't hit the sky," yelled another. 

“Bring me back a star," howled the facetious 
old man. 

“Me a bit of the moon," called another. 

Jeb said nothing to this raillery. Instead, he 
looked uneasily about him and held his rifle, 
which he had insisted on bringing with him, be- 
tween his knees. 

“All right?" asked Roy, looking back at him. 

“As right as I ever will be," rejoined Jeb, with 
a rather sickly grin. 

“You must hold tight," warned Peggy. 

“Pm doing that," said Jeb. 

And then with the same sickly grin : 


266 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Say, miss, does it really fly?” 

“Of course it does. As that old man said, how 
could it have got here if it didn’t.” 

“I guess I’d better go home and git my coat,” 
said Jeb, trying to climb out. 

His demeanor had completely changed since he 
had climbed into the chassis. Something in its 
well-cushioned seats and the sight of the power- 
ful engine and propeller seemed to have changed 
his mind about the capabilities of the Golden 
Butterfly. 

But it was too late. With a roar the engine 
started. Instantly the little plateau was de- 
serted. The mountaineers were all behind trees. 

Jeb rushed for the side of the car. 

“Sit down!” screeched Peggy, really fearing 
he would fall over. 

But if Jeb’s intention had been to climb out it 


was foiled. 


I 



“take me back to earth er i'll shoot/' said a voice in his ear. 

























MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


267 


“Wow!” he yelled, and again, a Wow-ow-ow! 
Lemme out.” 

“Too late now,” shouted Roy. 

The aeroplane shot upward, carrying as a pas- 
senger a man temporarily crazy from fright. 

Suddenly Roy felt the muzzle of a rifle press 
against the back of his neck. 

“Take me back to earth er I’ll shoot,” said a 
voice in his ear. 

Roy obeyed, and so ended Jeb’s first aeroplane 
ride. It may be added that it was also his last. 





CHAPTER XXIV. 
mr. parker’s story. 

“It was a gang of moonshiners that you stum- 
bled across,” said Mr. Parker, when they told 
him of their adventure; “you were fortunate to 
escape as you did.” 

“I guess we have that aeroplane ride we gave 
to Jeb to thank for that,” laughed Roy. 

“It wasn’t so laughable, though, when he 
pressed that rifle to your neck,” declared Peggy. 

“No, indeed. That was a mighty uncomfor- 
table feeling, I can tell you.” 

“It reminds me of an experience I had with 
moonshiners once,” said Mr. Parker. “Would 
you care to hear about it?” 


269 


270 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


Of course they would. They were sitting on 
the porch in the twilight after dinner. It was a 
happy group and they had been exploding with 
laughter over Roy's account of Jeb's ride. 

“It was a good many years ago, when I was 
in the employ of the government/' said Mr. Par- 
ker, “that what I am going to tell you about hap- 
pened. I was a young fellow then, and a good 
bit of a dare-devil, so I was sent at the head of a 
body of men to rout out moonshiners. 

“As you may know from your experience this 
morning, it is mighty dangerous to be suspected 
of being in the employ of the government, and so 
we posed as drummers and peddlers, scattering 
through the mountains. 

“Each of us worked alone so as not to attract 
attention. Our job was merely to locate the illicit 
stills and then militia would be sent to raid and 
destroy them, and the vile stuff they concoct. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


271 


“I had been on the job about a week when I 
came one night to a desolate-looking little shack 
on a high mountainside. It did not look inviting, 
but I had to have shelter for the night, so I 
stepped to the door and knocked. A rather 
comely looking woman replied to my summons. 

“ Tm a peddler/ I explained, 'could I get 
something to eat and a room here for the night ?’ 

"She looked at me twice before answering. 

“ 'What you tradin’ in ?’ she asked, with a trace 
of suspicion. 

"I judged from her manner that there was an 
illicit still in the neighborhood and that was what 
made her so suspicious. 

" 'Oh, laces, ribbons and so forth/ I replied. 

"I showed her some samples. 

" Til give you breakfast, supper and a bed fer 
that bit of red ribbon/ she said. 


272 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“ Til throw in this bit of blue/ said I gal- 
lantly. 

“And so the bargain was struck. It was a 
small place, but neat and tidy. Two children 
were playing about and in a corner sat a man 
trying to read a month-old newspaper. 

“ Top, this feller traded in these bits of ribbon 
fer bed and two meals/ she said, proudly ex- 
hibiting her goods and evidently thinking she 
had made an excellent bargain. I could see the 
gleam of triumph in her eye. 

“ 'Humph V grunted the man, 'much good 
those are/ 

“Then he turned to me. 

“ 'Peddler?’ he asked. 

“ 'Yes/ said I. 

“ 'What you tradin’ in?’ 

“ 'Oh, silks, laces and so forth/ rejoined I, re- 
peating my formula. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


273 


“ ‘Humph!’ 

“He looked at me, narrowing his eyes. 

“ ‘You don’t look much like a peddler,” said 
he. 

“ ‘No, I’ve seen better days,’ I said, with a 
sigh. 

“But I could see that he was still suspicious. 

“ ‘Where’d you come from?’ was his next 
question. 

“ ‘South,’ said I. 

“ ‘Where you going?’ 

“ ‘North.’ 

“ ‘Ain’t much on conversation, be yer ?’ he 
asked. 

“ ‘No, I’m not considered a very talkative fel- 
low,’ I rejoined. 

“We lapsed into silence. The man smoked. 
I just sat and thought the situation over. At 


274 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


last supper was announced. It was eaten almost 
in silence. The man discouraged all his wife's 
efforts at conversation. He was sullen and nerv- 
ous. 

“More than ever did I begin to suspect that 
there was a still in the immediate neighborhood. 
Soon after supper I pleaded fatigue and was 
shown up a flight of stairs, or rather a ladder, 
to a sort of attic. There was a husk mattress 
there, and a pile of rather dirty-looking blankets. 
But in those hills you learn to put up with what 
you can get. I was glad to have found shelter 
at all. 

“But tired as I was for some reason I couldn't 
sleep. I felt a sort of vague uneasiness. I heard 
the man get up and go out and then later on I 
heard several voices downstairs. 

“There were broad chinks in the floor, and 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


275 


through these I could look down. The men — 
there were four of them — were talking in low 
voices, but now and then I could catch a word. 
All of a sudden I heard one say something about 
government spy. 

“That gave me a shock, I can tell you. I knew 
then they were talking about me. My predica- 
ment was a bad one if they suspected me. I be- 
gan to look about me for a way to get out. While 
doing this I occasionally looked down below. 

“The last time I looked I got a shock that 
made my hair stand. The fellows were moving 
about the room. From one corner one of them 
got a formidable-looking knife. 

“Scared to death, I redoubled my efforts to 
find a way out. At last at one end of the room 
I found a chimney, one of those big stone affairs 
as big as all outdoors. I decided to try this. 


276 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“I found that it was rough inside, and I had 
not much difficulty in clambering up it. I was 
near the top when I heard a voice from the room 
below say: 

" 'Then we uns ’ull kill him right now/ 

“ 'Yep, he’s lived long enough. He’s no good/ 
"My heart jumped into my mouth. I redou- 
bled my efforts and emerged from the top of the 
chimney. Reaching it, I lowered myself to the 
roof as gently as possible. 

"The eaves came down low to the ground and 
I had not much difficulty in making my escape 
noiselessly. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


277 


CHAPTER XXV. 

The) wren disappears. 

“But as I reached the ground a startling thing 
happened. I missed my footing and found my- 
self rolling down a steepish bank. At the bottom 
I fetched up against an odd-looking little hut 
almost overgrown with bushes. It was bright 
moonlight and the door was open. 

“Inside was a fire, and by its light I could see 
that the place was empty of human life, but that 
a collection of objects already familiar to me 
almost filled it. 

“It was an illicit still ! 

“Clearly enough, also, it was operated by my 
hosts up above. 

“I listened for sounds of pursuit, but heard 


278 


THE GIRL AVIATORS' 


none. Possibly they had not yet crept into my 
room to perform their horrible resolve. 

“Suddenly the silence was broken by appalling 
yells and screams. My hair bristled for an in- 
stant and then I burst into a laugh. 

“It was a pig that I heard. At the same in- 
stant it dawned on me that it was, the pig that 
they had been discussing dispatching and not me 
at all. You can imagine the revulsion of my 
feelings. But I felt sore at the scare they had 
given me, so I decided to do some work for the 
government and even up scores at the same time. 

“Entering the shack, I scattered the coals of 
the fire right and left. Then I came away. No, 
I did not go back to the cabin. It would, as your 
friend Jeb.said, not have been healthy for me. 

“Instead I set off running at top speed through 
the woods. Before long I saw a glow on the sky 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


279 


behind me, and knew that flames were devouring 
the vile stuff that moonshiners make. 

“I left my pack behind me, however, and I 
hope that compensated them for the loss of their 
still. Urn sure the woman, at any rate, would 
value its contents more highly.” 

They all burst into a laugh at the conclusion 
of Mr. Parker’s odd story. They were still 
laughing when Mandy rushed out on the porch. 

“Miss Wren done be gone!” she shouted. 

“Gone !” they all echoed, in dismayed tones. 

“Yes. I done go to her room to see de poo’ 
lamb is com’foble, and she not there. I done find 
dis writin’, too.” 

“Let me look at it,” demanded Mr. Parker. 

“It mighty hard to read. It sure is a scan-lous 
bit of writin'.” 

With this comment the colored woman handed 


280 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


over to her master a bit of dirty wrapping paper. 

On it was scrawled in almost illegible charac- 
ters : 

“U wont git hur agin. — The Romanys.” 

“The Romanys!” exclaimed Peggy. 

“Yes; that’s the gipsy word for themselves,” 
said Mr. Parker. “Pm afraid that the same band 
that had her before has stolen her again.” 

“What are we to do?” wailed Bess. 

“Hush!” said Jess; “let Mr. Parker decide 
what is best.” 

They stood about with dismayed faces. 

Miss Prescott was weeping softly. Peggy 
could hardly keep back her tears. The little 
brown Wren had become very dear to all of 
them. It was a hard blow indeed to lose her like 
this. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


281 


“But how could they know that she was here?” 
objected Jimsy. 

“Why, that silly newspaper report that went 
out when you arrived here about your adventures 
on the way and the romantic rescue of Wren. If 
they had come across that it would have given 
them a clew.” 

“They were traveling south then, Wren said, 
and that was two weeks ago. They would have 
had ample time to reach this vicinity.” 

“That is so,” rejoined Mr. Parker solemnly; 
“Fll make telephonic inquiries at once. They 
may have been seen in the vicinity.” 

“While you are doing that we'll examine the 
room. They may have left a clew there,” said 
Roy. 

Roy and Jimsy darted upstairs on this errand. 
On looking round the place it was clear enough 


282 


THE GIEL AVIATORS 1 


how the abductors had gotten in. Outside the 
window was an extension roof. It would have 
been very easy for an active man such as gipsies 
usually are to have clambered in and out again 
without detection. 

Taking a lantern they examined the ground 
outside. On a flower bed below the roof was the 
imprint of a man’s feet. 

“Notice anything peculiar about it?” asked 
Jimsy, for Roy was bending earnestly over the 
prints. 

“Yes, I’d know that foot print again any- 
where,” he said; “see, one side of the man’s boot 
was broken, the one of the right foot. His toes 
show here on the ground.” 

“That might be a good clew if it was daylight; 
but right now ” 

Jimsy sighed. It was manifestly impossible to 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


283 


do any tracking of the man with the broken boot 
in the darkness. 

“Well have to wait till daylight. ,, 

“Yes, bother it all. They may be miles away 
by that time.” 

“I doubt it. I wouldn’t wonder if they hide 
right around here. There are lots of good places, 
and they know that the hue and cry will be so 
hot that they would be caught if they traveled.” 

“That’s so. Maybe we can find them, after 
all.” 

“Let’s hope so. Well, we can do no more good 
here. Let’s go in.” 

Peggy met them at the door. She seemed 
wildly excited over something. 

“The mail rider’s just been here,” she ex- 
claimed, “and listen to this letter. It’s from a 
woman living near New York. She just got 


284 


THE GIEL AVIATORS’ 


back from Europe and in an old newspaper she 
read an account of our sky cruise. 

“She is certain that The Wren is her daughter 
and gives a description of her that tallies in 
every particular. She said that Wren was caught 
out in a heavy thunderstorm and sought refuge 
in a gipsy camp, as she learned afterward from 
a farmer who had seen her. She hunted high 
and low but has never since had word of the 
child. Her right name is Sylvia Harvey. Mrs. 
James Harvey is her mother, and she’s rushing 
here as fast as a train will carry her.” 

“If it is really Sylvia Harvey then her mother 
has found her only to lose her again,” sighed 
Jess. 

“Don’t say that,” said Mr. Parker, coming 
into the room at that moment, “we’ll leave no 
stone unturned to find her.” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


285 , 


“Did you have any success with the tele- 
phone ?" 

“No; nobody has seen a band of people answer- 
ing to the descriptions you gave of The Wren's 
abductors." 

“Then we can do nothing more?" 

The question came from Roy. 

“Not to-night. It would be useless. I have 
notified all the police around and a general alarm 
will be sent out at once. And now I order every 
one to bed. We've hard work in front of us to- 
morrow." 



CHAPTER XXVI. 


CAPTURED BY GIPSIES. 

About noon the next day Roy and Jimsy found 
themselves at the edge of a wild-looking section 
of country. They were standing at the entrance 
to a glen densely wooded with dark, forbidding- 
looking trees, and walled by precipitous and 
rugged rocks. 

“Looks as if the trail ends here,” said Jimsy 
disconsolately. 

“It sure does. We can't Gee, Whilli- 

kens !” 

“What on earth is up now?” 

“It's the broken-toed boot. Look here on the 
muddy bank of this little stream.” 


287 


288 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“By hooky, it is! We’ve struck the trail in- 
stead of ending it.” 

“What will we do; go back for reenforce- 
ments ?” 

“Not just yet. We’ll reconnoiter a bit. See, 
the fellow went up this bank and — look there, 
Jimsy — there’s a little footprint beside. He was 
dragging the child along.” 

With beating hearts the two boys entered the 
forbidding-looking glen. It was almost dark 
under the trees, which made the aspect of the 
place even more gloomy and desolate looking. 

“This is a nice, cheerful sort of place,” said 
Jimsy, in a low tone, as they walked along, fol- 
lowing the bank of the stream, for the brush was 
too thick to admit of their walking anywhere 
else, which is what had driven the broken-booted 
man to leave a tell-tale trail behind him. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


289 


“I rather wish I had a gun,” said Jimsy. 

“We won’t get close enough to them to need 
it,” rejoined Roy; “we’ll just spy out their hid- 
ing place and then go back for reenforcements.” 

“That’s the best idea. I don’t much fancy a 
hand-to-hand encounter with a band of such des- 
perate ruffians as those gipsies have shown them- 
selves to be.” 

“Don’t be scared. We won’t have any trouble 
if we’re careful.” 

“I’m not scared; but if we did get in a tussle 
with them they could easily overpower us and 
then we’d have done more harm than good for 
they’d take fright and move right off.” 

“That’s my idea. We’ll be as cautious as 
mousing cats.” 

“Better stop talking, then. I never heard a 


mousing cat mi-ouw.” 


290 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


Cautiously they crept on. The trail still held 
good. At last they reached the head of the glen 
where a spring showed the source of the brook. 

“What next?” whispered Jimsy. 

“Let's see if we can find which way that fel- 
low went. The ground is spongy all around 
here and — ah ! this way! See it?” 

Jimsy nodded. They struck ofif to the right, 
clambering over rocks till they reached the sum- 
mit of a small hill. A tall dead tree stood there 
and Jimsy volunteered to climb it in order to spy 
out the surrounding country for traces of the 
gipsys. But on his return to the ground he was 
compelled to admit that they had gained nothing. 

“I thought I might see some smoke that would 
give me a clew to their whereabouts,” he ex- 
plained. 

“Not much chance of their being as foolish as 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


291 


that. I guess they know searching parties are 
out all over by this time, and they are too foxy 
to light fires.” 

"I might have thought of that,” admitted 
Jimsy; "it would be about the last thing they 
would do. What will we do now?” 

"I hardly know. Hello ! there's an odd-looking 
place. Right over there. See that deep canon? 
That one with the fallen tree across it?” 

"Yes, I do now. Let's look over there.” 

"All right. You're on.” 

The two boys struck off in the direction of 
Roy's discovery. It was indeed an odd freak of 
nature. Some convulsion of the earth had de- 
tached quite a section of land from the surround- 
ing country. It was, in fact, an island in the 
midst of the woods with only the fallen tree for 
a bridge. 


292 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“Let's cross it and examine the place," sug- 
gested Roy, with all a boy’s curiosity. 

Together they crossed the old tree, which had 
evidently fallen there by accident, although, in 
reality, it formed a perfect bridge. The “island" 
was thickly wooded and they pushed forward 
across it, not without some difficulty. 

Suddenly they came upon a sight that made 
them halt dead in their tracks. 

A man holding a rifle was sitting on a fallen 
log. The instant he saw them he raised his 
weapon. 

“Don’t come no further," he said. 

“Why not?" demanded Roy indignantly. 

“See that sign?" said the man. 

He pointed to a rudely painted sign on a tree 


at his back. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


293 


“Dangir. No Trespasin.” 

That was what it said in bold letters that 
sprawled across its surface in an untidy fashion. 
The execution of the thing was as bad as its 
spelling. 

“I guess a pretty sick man painted that sign,” 
grinned Jimsy. 

“What do you mean ?” was the surly reply. 

“Why, I should judge he was having an awful 
bad spell at the time,” was the boy’s rejoinder. 

The man scowled at him fiercely. 

“No joking round here,” he growled; “now, 
then, if you know what’s good for you you two 
kids will vamoose.” 

“What’s the danger if we keep on?” asked 
Roy. 

“Why, they're trying a new kind of explosive 


294 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


back there. It might go off the wrong way, your 
way, for instance, and hurt you,” was the reply. 

“Seems a funny sort of place to try out ex- 
plosives,” said Roy. 

“Seems a queer sort of place for you two kids 
to come. Who are you, anyhow ?” 

'Oh, we are camping down below and we just 
came out for a stroll.” 

“Well, stroll some other place, then. Git away 
from round here.” 

“We certainly will,” flashed back Roy; “come 
on, Jimsy.” 

As there seemed nothing else to do Jimsy 
agreed. They turned away and began retracing 
their steps,, no wiser as to the whereabouts of the 
man with, the broken boot than they had been 
when they set out. 

Just as they turned to go, however, another 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


295 


man came out of the woods behind the man with 
the rifle. When he saw the boys he gave an 
abrupt start. 

“Where did those boys come from?" he de- 
manded. 

“I don't know. Said they was two kids out 
campin' and takin' a stroll." 

“Taking a stroll, eh?" said the other fero- 
ciously; “they were taking a stroll looking for 
that Wren." 

“How do you know?" 

“Because they are the same two kids who stole 
her from us just as we were going to demand a 
ransom for her." 

“That was before I joined the band. No won- 
der I didn't know them ; if I had " 

He scowled vindictively. 

“Well, we can't let 'em get away. Here, give 
me that rifle," demanded the newcomer. 


296 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


The other handed it to him. The next instant 
a report rang out and a bullet whizzed over the 
boys' heads. 

“Come back here," shouted the man who had 
fired the shot; “I want to see you." 

The boys hesitated for a minute. 

“The next shot 'ull come lower if you don't," 
warned the man ; “come on, no nonsense." 

As there seemed to be nothing else to do the 
boys obeyed. As they drew closer they recog- 
nized the fellow. 

“Oh, you know me, eh?" he snarled; “well, 
you’ll know me better before we get through. 
Follow me, now. Pedro, you take the rifle and 
fall in behind. If they try to escape shoot them 
down." 

Here was a fine situation. They had found the 
gipsies' camp with a vengeance, but for all the 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


297 


good it was going to do The Wren, unless they 
could get her away, they might as well not have 
come. These gloomy reflections sifted through 
their minds as they paced along, the man with 
the rifle occasionally prodding them with it just 
to make them “step lively,” as he phrased it. 

At length they came to a sort of large open 
place shaped like a basin, and placed in the mid- 
dle of this natural island. In this basin were set 
up several squalid tents, about which the gipsies 
were squatting. 

They set up a yell of surprise as the two boys 
were brought in. 

“Where under the sun did you find them, 
Beppo?” exclaimed the same woman who had so 
cruelly ill-treated The Wren the time the boys 
rescued her. 

“Oh, they were just taking a stroll, and hap- 
pened to stroll in here/' said Beppo viciously. 


298 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


“I guess they won’t have a chance to bother us 
again. They’re going to make quite a stay here.” 

The gipsies set up a taunting laugh. Sud- 
denly, from one of the tents, a tiny figure darted. 

“Oh, I knew you’d come! I knew you’d 
come,” it cried. 

It was the poor little Wren. She had been 
stripped of her nice clothes and put into some 
filthy rags, her face was stained with crying and 
there was a bruise on her forehead. 

With a curse Beppo seized the child by one 
arm, swung her round and dealt her a savage 
box on the ear. 

“Get back where you belong !” he roared. 

The next instant Beppo had measured his 
length on the ground and beneath one of his eyes 
a beautiful plum-colored swelling was develop- 
ing. As has been said, Roy could hit a powerful 
blow. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


299 


CHAPTER XXVII. 
deliverance:. 

The next minute all was wild confusion. The 
boys found themselves on the ground, being 
scratched and bitten and kicked by men and 
women alike. They did not have a chance against 
this horde of half savage wanderers. At length 
beaten and bruised they were tied with ropes and 
thrown into one of the tents and a man set to 
guard it. 

All day they lay there without anything to eat 
or drink and no one to come near them except 
that occasionally a tangled head would be thrust 
in to hurl some taunt at them. 

Darkness fell and they still lay there, suffering 
terrible pain from their wounds and bonds. 


300 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


"This is the uttermost limit,” declared Roy, in 
a low tone; "we’re in the worst fix we ever got 
into this time.” 

"We certainly are. What a bit of bad luck 
that the rascal Beppo came up when he did! 
That other gipsy had no idea who we were.” 

"Well, I had the satisfaction of giving Master 
Beppo a good black eye,” muttered Roy. 

"Yes; that was a peach. It did me good to see 
it land.” 

"It landed all right. Ouch, my back feels as 
if it was broken.” 

"My wrists and ankles are awfully sore. I 
wonder if they mean to let us loose or give us 
anything to eat.” 

"Well, we won’t last long at this rate. I guess 
they mean to be as cruel as they can to us in re- 
turn for that punch I gave Beppo.” 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


301 


“I wouldn’t have spoken to you again if you 
hadn’t.” 

“I don’t blame you.” 

It grew dark. Outside they heard the murmur 
of voices for a time and then all became quiet. 
Just before silence fell and snores became audible 
they heard the man on duty as their guard call 
for some coffee to keep by his side during the 
night. 

“I’ll send that brat of a Wren to you with it 
directly,” they heard Beppo’s wife reply; “the 
little beast, it’ll do her good to work.” 

Then came the sound of a slap and a sob. 

The boys’ blood boiled. 

“Oh, what wouldn’t I give to have Master 
Beppo in a twenty-four-foot ring,” breathed Roy. 

“I think he’d look well decorating a tree,” 
grated out Jimsy viciously. 


302 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


The night wore on, but the boys did not sleep. 
Their tight bonds and worry over their situation 
prevented this. 

All at once Roy's attention was attracted by 
somebody raising the flap at the back of the tent. 
Next something crawled in. At first he thought 
it was a large dog. 

But then came a whisper : 

"It's me, Wren." 

“What are you doing here?" 

“Hush, I've come to get you free. You'll take 
me with you, won't you ?" 

“Of course ; what a question to ask ! But how 
can you free us?" 

“I've got a knife here. I'll cut those ropes in 
a minute." 

“But the guard outside?" 

“I've fixed him. Was it very wrong of me? 






















/ 


























MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


303 

While Mother Beppo wasn’t looking I put some 
of the stuff in that coffee I brought him.” 

“Well, upon my word, Wren! What sort of 
stuff?” gasped Jimsy. 

“Oh, some sort of brown stuff. I’ve seen 
Mother Beppo smoke it. It makes her oh so 
sleepy. So I gave some to him and he’s sound 
asleep now.” 

“Must have been opium,” declared Roy. 
“Wren, do you know that you are a very bad 
young lady?” 

“I’d do anything for you. You’re so good 
and kind to me,” said the child, as she rapidly cut 
the ropes. 

For a time the boys, after being freed, just 
lay there, unable to move. But after a while 
circulation set in and they began to move their 
limbs. In half an hour the trio crept out of the 


304 


THE GIRL AVIATORS* 


tent and, crossing the “island,” traversed the 
trunk bridge. 

“Wait a minute,” said Roy, when they reached 
the other side. 

“What are you going to do?” 

“Make that whole outfit prisoners till the offi- 
cers of the law can get up here.” 

He took a broken branch as a lever and with 
Jimsy’s assistance toppled the log down into the 
canon. 

“Now I guess they’ll stay put for a while,” he 
said. 

And they did. That was why, when a posse 
came up to capture the band, they carried mate- 
rials for building a bridge across the canon. It 
may as well be said here that the band received 
heavy sentences, it being proved at their trial that 
they had made a practice of kidnapping children 
and then trying to collect ransoms for them. 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


305 


There was a happy scene next day at the Par- 
ker home when Mrs. Harvey, a sweet-faced 
woman of middle age, arrived. After one look 
at Wren she swayed and then, recovering herself, 
called out in the voice that only a mother knows : 

“Sylvia !” 

“Mother !” screamed the child, and rushed into 
her open arms. 

The tide of memory, driven to low ebb by ill- 
treatment and hardship, had rushed back with 
full force. The Wren, the gipsy waif, was once 
more Sylvia Harvey. A doctor said later that 
such cases were frequent following a severe 
shock. It was then that they recalled how the 
child had almost recollected some of her past life 
during the thunderstorm. 

The happiness of little Wren and her mother 
in their reunion was shared by all of the party 


306 


THE GIRL AVIATORS’ 


who had been instrumental in effecting it, for 
every one of them, including Jake, had become 
attached to the quiet little girl and rejoiced in 
her good fortune. 

When Mrs. Harvey and Sylvia departed for 
the railway station the following day behind a 
pair of Mr. Parker’s steady horses they were 
accompanied by the four aeroplanes, which 
hovered over them like so many sturdy guardian 
angels. 

And when the train bore them away they 
watched the returning aerial escort until there 
was nothing visible but four tiny dots against 
the blue heaven. 

“Oh, mother,” exclaimed Wren, “they look no 
bigger than butterflies now!” 

And the Girl Aviators, flying every moment 
higher and farther on the powerful wings of the 
Golden Butterfly and the delicate plane of the 


MOTOR BUTTERFLY 


307 


dainty Dart, looked back at the train crawling 
like a humble insect in the valley below and 
gloried in their untrammeled flight. As they 
followed Roy and Jimsy in an irregular proces- 
sion through the air, their thoughts flew ahead, 
outdistancing the biplane and the Red Dragon 
and speeding confidently toward the happy real- 
izations of the future. 

Miss Prescott, watching from the home of 
Mr. Parker for their return, also dreamed 
dreams and saw visions, and in them her “dear 
children” were fulfilling the bright phophecies 
of the present. She saw them stronger because 
of adversity, braver because of success, and en- 
nobled by all their experiences; and she deemed 
herself happy in her capacity of chaperon to the 
Girl Aviators. 


The; End. 









GIRL AVIATORS SERIES 

Clean Aviation Stories 

By MARGARET BURNHAM. 

Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid 

THE GIRL AVIATORS AND 
THE PHANTOM AIRSHIP. 

Roy Prescott was fortunate in 
having a sister so clever and de- 
voted to him and his interests that 
they could share work and play 
with mutual pleasure and to mutual 
advantage. This proved especially 
true in relation to the manufacture 
and manipulation of their aero- 
plane, and Peggy won well de- 
served fame for. her skill and good 
sense as an aviator. There were 
many stumbling-blocks in their terrestial path, but they 
soared above them all to ultimate success. 

THE GIRL AVIATORS ON GOLDEN WINGS. 

.That there is a peculiar fascination about aviation that 
wins and holds girl enthusiasts as well as boys is proved 
by this tale. On golden wings the girl aviators rose for 
many an exciting flight, and met strange and unexpected 
experiences. 

THE GIRL AVIATORS’ SKY CRUISE. 

To most girls a coaching or yachting trip is an adven- 
ture. How much more perilous an adventure a “sky 
cruise” might be is suggested by the title and proved by 
the story itself. 

THE GIRL AVIATORS’ MOTOR BUTTERFLY. 

The delicacy of flight suggested by the word “butterfly,” 
the mechanical power implied by “motor,” the abiltity to 
control assured in the title “aviator,” all combined with 
the personality and enthusiasm of girls themselves, make 
this story one for any girl or other reader “to go crazy 
over.” 

Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. 
HURST & COMPANY - Publishers - NEW YORK 



MOTOR MAIDS SERIES 

Wholesome Stories of Adventure 


By KATHERINE STOKES. 

Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per yoI., postpaid 

THE MOTOR MAIDS’ 

SCHOOL DAYS. 


* 

MOTOR MAIDS 
SCHOOLDAYS 

KATHERINE SIOKES_ 



Billie Campbell was just the type 
of a straightforward, athletic girl 
to be successful as a practical 
Motor Maid. She took her car, as 
she did her class-mates, to her 
heart, and many a grand good time 
did they have all together. The 
road over which she ran her 
red machine had many an unex- 
pected turning, — now it led her 
into peculiar danger; now into con- 
tact with strange travelers; and again into experiences 
by fire and water. But, best of all, “The Comet” never 
failed its brave girl owner. 

THE MOTOR MAIDS BY PALM AND PINE. 

Wherever the Motor Maids went there were lively times, 
for these were companionable girls who looked upon the 
world as a vastly interesting place full of unique adven- 
tures — and so, of course, they found them. 

THE MOTOR MAIDS ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 


A It is always interesting to travel, and it is wonderfully 
entertaining to see old scenes through fresh eyes. It is 
that privilege, therefore, that makes it worth while to join 
the Motor Maids in their first 'cross-country run. 

THE MOTOR MAIDS BY ROSE, SHAMROCK AND 
HEATHER. 

South and West had the Motor Maids motored, nor 
could their education by travel have been more wisely 
begun. But now a speaking acquaintance with their own 
country enriched their anticipation of an introduction to 
the British Isles. How they made their polite American 
bow and how they were received on the other side is a 
tale of interest and inspiration. 

Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. 


HURST & COMPANY - Publishers - NEW YORK 



HOLLY BROWN SERIES 

College Life Stories for Girls 

By NELL SPEED. 

Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 60c. per vol., postpaid 

MOLLY BROWN’S 

FRESHMAN DAYS, 

# Would you like to admit to your 
circle of friends the most charming 
of college girls — the typical college 
girl for whom we are always look- 
ing but not always finding; the type 
that contains so many delightful 
characteristics, yet without un- 
pleasant perfection in any; the 
natural, unaffected, sweet-tempered 
girl, loved because she is lovable? 
Then seek an introduction to Molly 
Brown. You will find the baggage-master, the cook, the 
Professor of English Literature, and the College President 
in the same company. 

MOLLY BROWN’S SOPHMORE DAYS. 

What is more delightful than a re-union of college girls 
after the summer vacation? Certainly nothing that pre- 
cedes it in their experience — at least, if all class-mates 
are as happy together as the Wellington gins of this 
story. Among Molly’s interesting friends of the second 
year is a young Japanese girl, who ingratiates her “humbly” 
self into everybody’s affections speedily and permanently. 

MOLLY BROWN’S JUNIOR DAYS. 

Financial stumbling blocks are not the only things that 
hinder the ease and increase the strength of college girls. 
Their troubles and their triumphs are their own, often 
peculiar to their environment. How Wellington students 
meet the experiences outside the class-rooms is worth the 
doing, the telling and the reading. 

Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. 

HURST & COMPANY - Publishers - NEW Y0R3C 



BONGALOW BOYS SERIES 

LIVE STORIES OF OUTDOOR LIFE 

By DEXTER J. FORRESTER. 

Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid 

THE BUNGALOW BOYS. 

How the Bungalow Boys received 
their title and how they retained the 
right to it in spite of much opposition 
makes a lively narrative for lively boys. 



THE BUNGALOW BOYS MA- 
ROONED IN THE TROPICS. 

A real treasure hunt of the most 
thrilling kind, with a sunken Span- 
ish galleon as its object, makes a 
subject of intense interest at any 
time, but add to that a band of desperate men, a dark plot 
and a devil fish, and you have the combination that brings 
strange adventures into the lives of the Bungalow Boys. 


THE BUNGALOW BOYS IN THE GREAT NORTH 
WEST. 

The clever assistance of a young detective saves the boys 
from the clutches of Chinese smugglers, of whose nefarious 
trade they know too much. How the Professor’s invention re- 
lieves a critical situation is also an exciting incident of this book. 

THE BUNGALOW BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES. 

The Bungalow Boys start out for a quiet cruise on the 
Great Lakes and a visit to an island. A storm and a band 
of wreckers interfere with the serenity of their trip, and a 
submarine adds zest and adventure to it. 


Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. 

HURST & COMPANY - Publishers - NEW YORK 


DREADNOUGHT DOYS SERIES 

Tales of the New Navy 

By CAPT. WILBUR LAWTON 

Author of “BOY AVIATORS SERIES.” 

Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid 

THE DREADNOUGHT ROYS 
ON BATTLE PRACTICE. 

Especially interesting and timely 
is this book which introduces the 
reader with its heroes, Ned and Here, 
to the great ships of modern warfare 
and to the intimate life and surprising 
adventures of Uncle Sam’s sailors. 

THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS 
ABOARD A DESTROYER. 

In this story real dangers threaten 
and the boys’ patriotism is tested in 
a peculiar international tangle. The scene is laid on the 
South American coast. 

THE DREADNOUGHT DOYS ON A SUBMARINE. 

To the inventive genius — trade-school boy or mechanic — 
this story has special charm, perhaps, but to every reader its 
mystery and clever action are fascinating. 

THE DREADNOUGHT BOYS ON AERO SERVICE. 

Among the volunteers accepted for Areo Service are Ned 
and Here. Their perilous adventures are not confined to the 
air, however, although they make daring and notable flights 
in the name of the Government; nor are they always able 
to fly beyond the reach of their old “enemies,” who are also 
airmen. 

Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. 

HURST & COMPANY - Publishers - NEW YORK 



BOY INVENTORS SERIES 

Stories of Skill and Ingenuity 

By RICHARD BONNER 

Cloth Bound. Illustrated. Price, 50c. per vol., postpaid 

THE BOY INVENTORS’ 

WIRELESS TELEGRAPH. 

Blest with natural curiosity, — 
sometimes called the instinct of in- 
vestigation, — favored with golden 
opportunity, and gifted with crea- 
tive ability, the Boy Inventors 
meet emergencies and contrive 
mechanical wonders that interest 
and convince the reader because 
they always “work” when put to 
the test. 

THE BOY INVENTORS’ VANISHING GUN. 

A thought, a belief, an experiment; discouragement, 
hope, effort and final success — this is the history of many 
an invention; a history in which excitement, competition, 
danger, despair and persistence figure. This merely sug- 
gests the circumstances which draw the daring Boy In- 
ventors into strange experiences and startling adventures, 
and which demonstrate the practical use of their vanish- 
ing gun. 

THE BOY INVENTORS’ DIVING TORPEDO BOAT. 

As in the previous stories of the Boy Inventors, new 
and interesting triumphs of mechanism are produced 
which become immediately valuable, and the stage for 
their proving and testing is again the water. On the 
surface and below it, the boys have jolly, contagious fun, 
and the story of their serious, purposeful inventions 
challenge the reader’s deepest attention. 

Any volume sent postpaid upon receipt of price. 

HTJRST & COMPANY - Publishers - NEW YORK 




OCT 3 1912 


LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



DDDSlSniDl 




